Side Story: Sibling Ties
by FireStorm1991
Summary: Fourth part to my YYH series, Power Struggle. First segment of the YYH/DBZ crossover. Kaiya, a demon hybird, has many more problems than any hybird should have. Worried about her hidden memories, the spirit detectives take matters into their own hands and perform an experiment. When Kaiya wakes up, she will not only have her memories back, but she'll have a hidden secret as well.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, or the characters. I only own my OCs. Not all of the ones mentioned will be active in the story (the long list of OCs: Kaiya, Mika, Suki, Alexia, Nariko, Mayonaka, Kiense, Jiro, and Jake)

Okay, this first chapter is going to be a summary of my Yu Yu Hakusho series, Power Struggle (Power Struggle, Reikai Conspiracy, and The Hunted). It is about three girls that eventually develop demon powers late in life. However, one of the girls actually has a backstory in the DBZ universe. This is Kaiya's side story of how she found her brother, Vegeta, and how she went on in life without knowing. DBZ fans do not need to read the series (because it is long and pretty convoluted XD). The summary will highlight the major parts of Kaiya's life.

* * *

Kaiya was a normal girl, at least she was in the beginning. For eighteen years she lived as a normal human girl on her home planet, Earth. When she went off to college, she developed troubling abilities. Whenever she was afraid or upset, various flames would shoot from her body. She met two girls who shared not only a possible career studying the sea, but abilities that they could not control. They took a long weekend to meet a psychic who would train them to wield their abilities without hurting themselves and their loved ones.

During this time, they befriended a team of spirit detectives that protected the balance between Earth's three dimensions: Human World (Ningenkai), Spirit World (Reikai), and Demon World (Makai). The team consisted of a demon half-breed (Yusuke Urameshi), a human with heightened spiritual awareness (Kazuma Kuwabara), a fox youkai living within a human body (Kurama AKA Shuichi Minamino), and a fire demon born of a race of ice maidens (Hiei). Kaiya was not quick to trust her new friends, and butted head with Hiei until eventually, through fighting as a means of communication, they grew to trust one another.

A few months had gone by since Kaiya and her friends, Mika and Suki, began to train with the psychic Genkai. After getting the majority of their powers under control, it was discovered that Kaiya had an evil twin sister, a water wielder named Mayonaka. She turned out to be a misguided fool that was following her boyfriend, Kiense, a sadistic fire demon that had qualms with Spirit World. He was the head of a conspiracy against the Reikai. The spirit detectives, also known as the Reikai Tantei, managed to take down the sadistic leader. And then it came out that the Kiense they had been fighting was an alternate version to the one Mayonaka had dated.

With the old leader of the conspiracy gone, Mayonaka and Kaiya were able to coexist; however, all was not forgiven and Mayonaka returned to America to live with the mother she never had a chance to know. Kaiya eventually went home to visit both sides of her family. Hiei followed her, worried about a story he had heard Kaiya tell to Mika and Suki before leaving. He was worried that a relative would cause her harm. Being a former thief, and betrayed by his own kind, he was not willing to let her go alone.

He was right, about the wrong relative. The story was a joke about Kaiya's little cousin. The evil relative in question was Kaiya's and Mayonaka's father. He was a demon hunter, and he did not react well to the fact that both of his daughters were dating demons. By this time, Kaiya and Hiei had foregone their trust barriers and pride to be together. Not only that, but Kaiya had befriended many more demons. Even Kurama's old thieving partner was considered a treasured friend. Kaiya was devastated when she found out about her father, and as new telepathic abilities and visions began to take route in her mind, she found herself reliving a vision she had dreamt, being killed by her father and his electrical powers.

Kaiya's friends did not react well to her death. Hiei was out for blood, as were the others, and they were ready to take her father down. Mayonaka stayed behind to mourn the loss of her sister, and to beg her spirit for forgiveness. Kaiya's body was then filled with energy, but not from her sister's plea for her life. Kaiya had possessed dormant demon blood from a fire demon clan long but forgotten.

The boss of the spirit detectives, Koenma, brought her to the battlefield where her friends would face off against her father. No one had expected her to return, especially not as a demon. The battle was difficult, and Kaiya managed to deal damage to her father, though not enough to kill him. He was ready to take her life again, but Hiei would not let that happen. He refused to lose someone he cared about again.

With the death of Kaiya's father, more demon hunters came out of the woodwork. The girls had gone on a camping trip with the spirit detectives, on which they found out about a ring of demon hunters. More and more of Kaiya's past started to be explained by her cousin. She and her cousin Alexia had been trained as spies during a period in their childhood, and it was found that Kaiya had the same skills as Hiei, Kurama, and Kuronue, both having been thieves before joining the Reikai Tantei.

When they had come up with a plan to take down a stronghold, Kaiya started developing fears. A thunderstorm had her shaking, despite the fact that she had loved storms before. Her father, Jiro, having killed her with electricity would always haunt her, but she knew there was more than that. She would get caught up in a flashback, zoning out frequently, yet she could not see anything. She would say she was fine, and no one would question her.

Later, another demon hunter attacked, yet again using her family. A student of Jiro found her other cousin and pursued a relationship with her. He did not know that much about Kaiya, though. Hiei accompanied Kaiya home to America, to visit her mother, and to explain Jiro's death. Kaiya was afraid to tell her mother that she was part demon, but her mother accepted the truth. Her mother's neice, Nariko, did not and felt the need to share with her boyfriend the secret that she had heard.

The demon hunter, Jake, kidnapped both girls after Kaiya confessed to Nariko what she had told her mother the day before. Kaiya fought back, but when talismans were used to keep her power at bay, she could only allow Jake to torture her for information until she lost consciousness. She would never give information up on her demon friends.

Eventually the girls were rescued and reunited with their friends. Suki and Mika had long since gone through their own demonic transformations. The series ended with the girls discussing that they would have to get training with their new abilities. But the story did not end there, and this is where the journey continues.

* * *

Kaiya would grow stronger every time she had died or nearly died, but she did not tell her friends. Only Hiei knew because he was the only one who fought her on a daily basis. Even though she knew she was part of a highly powerful fire demon clan, she could not explain her insane power-ups. She continued to have visions of an uncertain future where she would meet the clan, but it had not happened. What she knew was that her ancestral father would appear in her life, and she would be given an object to store her energy. Being part human and demon, she would have conflicting energies; however, there would be more than just human spirit energy and demonic energy. The energies would clash and Kaiya would have to make a choice.

Kaiya would wake up from the same vision each night, not understanding what other energy she could possibly possess. Mika and Suki were long gone. Kaiya had missed the girls, but she knew they needed to leave the town they were in to find themselves. Mika had a clan of her own to look after, her advisors training her to control her demon powers. Suki had decided to follow Kaiya's cousin Alexia to her spy organization.

Kaiya was back in her own home, continuing her education in studying marine biology. Hiei thought it was a waste of time, but Kaiya would defend the oceans he did not understand being a wielder of fire. She would always tell him that she was connected to it ever since she was a little girl.

She would also tell him, and her other friends, that she did not remember a lot of her childhood. All she remembered was her early years, one big time lapse, and then a continuation. When she talked to Kurama about it, things became more serious. He had suggested she talk to her mother about her lapse in memory.

Kaiya had been going to self-defense classes, as per Jiro's request. That is where she and Alexia were trained to be "spies." Kaiya had nearly blocked that from her memory. The girls would go to class once a week, but even Alexia had mentioned her weeks' long disappearance. Even Kaiya's mother did not remember Kaiya being gone for that long.

Kaiya continued to train her abilities, and continued to have visions of the future, but faces were still hazy. One thing was certain, one of the figures seemed familiar, from somewhere in her past. However, whatever happened was completely erased from her memory. Then something even more bizarre happened.

Kaiya began to have flashbacks.

This was nothing new to her. Kaiya would go off on her own to think about her normal, human past. The problem was that she was also having flashbacks of battles. Battles with Mayonaka, Kiense, Jiro, and many others would replay themselves in her mind, and she would also feel the physical pain each time. One night, Kaiya went into a fit of nightmares, and Hiei began to grow worried.

Now that Kaiya was living alone, he and Kurama decided to keep watch over her as she went through changes. Something had to be done, but no one knew what.

"I just don't get it," Yusuke said. "Koenma said that she was a normal human to start with and that her demon powers shouldn't be having this kind of effect."

"Hn, Koenma is a fool," Hiei snapped. "He always says that Spirit World has no information on what's going on."

"Hiei, this isn't helping her," Kurama said calmly. "But I have a suggestion."

"What is it?" Yusuke and Kuwabara asked simultaneously.

"Well, Kuwabara has access to a lot of computer software at his new job," Kurama started to explain. He sighed when everyone looked at him blankly. "I can use the technology to create a type of device to see inside of her mind, at least while she sleeps. Whatever these nightmares are that have been plaguing her, it's obvious she doesn't remember them when she wakes."

"Okay, but what could computers do?" Kuwabara asked. "It's not like we can link them to her mind."

"There's new technology to study brainwaves," Kurama stated, having thought this thoroughly. "Kuronue and I can get ahold of the materials."

"This sounds WAY too sci-fi for me," Yusuke joked, "but I guess it's better than nothing. I normally wouldn't say this, but even I'M concerned about this. Ever since she came back as a demon like I did, all of these other side effects came up. I was never like this."

"We know this, detective," Hiei growled at the teenager. He sighed reluctantly. "We can't just connect her to some untested machine, though. Not without her consent."

"Of course," Kurama said with a smile. "That's why we're having this meeting. We will only do this is Kaiya agrees to it. Then we will get the materials we need."

"I'll talk to her," Hiei grumbled before disappearing out Kurama's bedroom window. He needed to get to Kaiya and tell her their friend's strange plan.

* * *

Kaiya was tossing and turning again, falling off the couch and waking herself up. She attempted to get up, but she really hurt her back this time, or really her tail. Now, Kaiya's friends, not even her family, had ever seen her tail. To be honest, she had no idea where it came from. When she was nine, she didn't have a tail. Then one day, she woke up, and there was a tail. She knew it wasn't normal. So she hid it from everyone somehow. She may not have known where the furry appendage came from, but it didn't seem to affect her much, except for being completely sensitive. Landing on it was NOT fun.

Kaiya was a strange half-breed. First off, she was a human/demon half-breed. Everything about that screamed paranormal, but she went beyond that. She knew that Yusuke had died like her, and had come back as a demon like her; however, he never had lapses in memory. The only time was when his ancestor used his body to kill a human trying to destroy Human World. It had never happened again, and Yusuke did not suffer from nightmares.

It would have been nice if she could find her ancestors from the Kajika Clan, but Koenma couldn't track down information, so he had said. All she knew about her clan is that it was a band of fire demons and that they had telepathic abilities.

Even telepathic abilities didn't concern her. The ability to communicate thoughts was not a new concept. Hiei was able to do that with his Jagan eye. The visions, not hat strange either. Kuwabara's sister would have premonitions, and she was human. What was strange was that she would get trapped in her memories, of the past. That had never happened to any demons or psychics that she knew, and at this point, she knew quite a bit.

Another thing that bothered her was how she woke up from nightmares, ones she couldn't remember. A few times, she had woken up Hiei by attacking him as a defense. The problem was that she didn't know what she was defending herself from. She would never remember the terrible dreams, and even Hiei could not focus in on them with the Jagan. They were completely shrouded from her subconscious.

Kaiya didn't even notice that Hiei had entered her apartment, well, at least not until he slammed the door shut. The girl launched herself off the couch, having been deep in thought, trying to hang on to her lost memories. "Oh, Hiei, what are you doing here?" she greeted her boyfriend with a fake smile.

"Don't start with that," Hiei muttered. "We need to talk."

"You should know better than to start a conversation out that way," Kaiya said with a knowing smile. "What's up?" She noted that he was not joking, though. "Did something happen to Yukina?"

Hiei shook his head. Nothing had happened to his sister, and Kaiya knew it. She would just always ask that to take Hiei's attention off of her. "It's about you," he said. "Kurama thinks he can figure out a way to see your memories as you dream them."

"Oh?" Kaiya asked. "And how does the great Youko Kurama propose we do this?"

"Apparently with some computers and some wired circuitry," Hiei replied while staring at Kaiya's face to gage her reaction. What worried him was that she had no reaction. "Kaiya…"

"So…he wants to make me into a science experiment," Kaiya said monotonously. "Why?"

"He thinks if we can see your memories, that we can tell you, and they will be unlocked," Hiei explained. "But we won't do anything unless you consent."

"Consent?" Kaiya shouted at the fire demon. "He wants me to consent to making myself a science experiment?"

"He wants you to consent to getting your memories unlocked," Hiei retorted, matching her volume. "Because I don't know if you've noticed, but they are hurting you, and not even I can figure out what's wrong with you!"

Kaiya went silent after that. She knew Hiei was right, and unfortunately this little experiment would be her best option. "Okay, okay," she reluctantly agreed. "How and when?"

"Let us worry about that," Hiei told her. "We'll take care of the how. Kurama has some type of contraption in mind. Then, once everything is set up, we will do this."

"Let me guess," Kaiya started. "You'll have to use the Jagan to force me to sleep, aren't you?"

"Unless you want to be drugged," Hiei replied with a shrug. "And I already know how you feel about that."

"Right," Kaiya muttered. "Well, then…I guess I'll see you around…you know, when he gets the computer."

Hiei nodded to her and placed his hand on her shoulder to give her a reassuring squeeze. In an instant, he was gone, and Kaiya was left to wonder what her friends would see once they had her in an unconscious state. Whatever it was, Kaiya had a feeling it would not be a good thing.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so the first chapter had no DBZ stuff in it, but in the next there will be. Anyways, I need sleep now, so time for bed, so I can write efficiently tomorrow XD


	2. Chapter 1 - Going Under

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just my OCs.

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Yusuke started looking up at a huge building, "you're interning at Capsule Corp., Kuwabara?"

"Yeah?" Kuwabara replied with a shrug. "So?"

"What the hell is a Capsule…Corp.?" Hiei asked snappishly.

"It's only the biggest name company in Japan, second to like, oh right, no one!" Yusuke exclaimed.

Kurama shook his head and looked around to the people out of the streets, seemingly going about their day, but clearly watching them. "Yusuke, we don't need to draw extra attention to ourselves," Kurama said darkly. "We do, however, need to get inside and see if we can locate the technology we need."

"And Kaiya won't have a problem with us robbing a multi-million dollar corporation to help her?" Kuronue asked.

"Just think of it as we're borrowing the technology for a good cause and will send it back with the intern when we're done figuring out what is wrong," Kurama cushioned. Truth be told, he did not want to get back into the thieving game, but Kaiya's health was more of a concern at the moment.

"Alright, let's just get this over with," Kuwabara muttered. "I really don't want my boss asking questions."

As the guys entered the building, with Yusuke muttering things like "I can't believe we're going into Capsule Corp.," they didn't notice another energy entering the building, from the sky.

* * *

Kaiya had woken up from yet another nightmare, and surprisingly this time she had a small recollection of what had happened. She saw stars, actual stars, lighting up a pitch black sky. But Kaiya, though she loved stargazing, did not remember ever seeing a sky so dark. For now, she just sat in her kitchen drinking a cup of her favorite tension tamer tea, hoping that she could shed her nerves before class.

"Hello?" she heard a familiar voice say from behind her door. Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice of her boyfriend's secret twin sister.

"It's open, Yukina," Kaiya called out to her. In hindsight, Kaiya realized she should probably lock her door more often. She rolled her eyes at her random paranoia. She lived in Japan; nothing bad EVER seemed to happen there, at least nothing that she couldn't handle.

Yukina, an ice maiden of similar height to her brother, opened the door slowly and then entered Kaiya's home. She shut the door and made her way to the kitchen, where Kaiya was currently sitting. The ice maiden smiled at her friend. "Good morning, Kaiya," she greeted.

Kaiya just flashed her a warm smile before sipping her tea. She watched the naïve girl studying her kitchen and couldn't help but think that she should spend more time with the girl. Even if Hiei was hesitant to tell Yukina of their sibling-ship, it didn't mean that she should feel any less obligated in being a part of the girl's life. "Hey, Yukina, would you like something to eat?" Kaiya offered before standing up from her spot. The hybrid moved to get another teacup and poured the girl some tea.

Yukina took the tea, but declined the offer for food. "I came here because Kazuma said that you weren't feeling well," Yukina explained. "I wanted to see if my healing powers could help you."

"That's really sweet, Yukina," Kaiya replied with a smile, "but it's not that kind of illness. It's not even really an illness. I don't know what it is."

Yukina blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

Kaiya couldn't help but hold in a chuckle at Yukina's expression. She was looking at her the same way Hiei had the night she attacked him in her sleep. "It's nothing, Yukina," Kaiya said calmly. "The guys will figure it out." Then Kaiya looked at the clock and freaked out. "Oh my gosh, I'm running late," she said in a panic. "Hey, Yukina…want to come with me to class?"

Yukina just tilted her head in question. "What's a class?" she asked. "Oh, you mean at the school, like the ones Kazuma goes to."

"Yeah, that," Kaiya said nervously. "Though he's more engineering; I'm more of a biology type person."

"Um, okay, sure," Yukina said with a smile. "I'll go."

Kaiya smiled and nodded before rushing through the collecting of her various books. Then she and Yukina left the apartment, Kaiya locking her door yet staring back at it. Feeling the start of a flashback in the process, she forced herself to look away from the white door and followed Yukina over to her car. Hopefully with the ice maiden there, she'd be distracted from her feelings of displacement.

* * *

Back at Capsule Corp., Kurama was waiting for Kuwabara to get a copy of the floor plans to him. Ever the planner, he was not planning on doing a job blind. He needed to know the security as well, so that he could prepare the proper plants to take out the system.

"Okay, so I have the plans, but it's just like a fire exit floor plan," Kuwabara said bringing his fox demon friend the floor plan.

"It's good enough," Kurama stated before they heard a window smashing in the room next door.

"Um, what was that?" Yusuke asked with a brow raised.

"Oh God, not him," Kuwabara muttered.

"Him?" Hiei repeated pushing himself off the wall he had been leaning on.

Kuwabara sighed. "I don't know. The boss's daughter went on some kind of trip and brought some guy with a bad attitude back with her. He sometimes shows up here demanding mechanical repairs. Doc. Briefs seems to be okay with the fact that this guy flies and smashes into his office at any giving moment."

"Who does that remind you of?" Yusuke taunted, looking over his shoulder to see Hiei glaring daggers at him. "Wait, this guy actually flies?"

"We're on the thirtieth floor of the tallest building in the city," Kuwabara pointed out in irritation. "How else do you explain it?"

"Point taken," the detective replied.

"Well, I'm sorry Vegeta," the heard the doctor's voice speak up. "But if Bulma has refused to fix it…it really isn't my area of expertise. Even though the GR was my design, she made it into her own little project. Besides, I'm working on this prototype brain scanner. Didn't she tell you? Oh that girl is so forgetful. Anyway, you'll have to wait for her to return home."

The guys didn't hear much of a reply from the other individual in the office, other than the occasional growl. They did, however, sense his power fluctuating in rage. Worried that the man in question would attack the innocent doctor, the spirit detective gang was at the ready to defend the human. Eventually the energy stabilized and they heard a dark voice growl out, "Whatever," before hearing another smash in the office.

"Okay, seriously starting to remind me of someone," Yusuke joked again before he noticed the contemplating look on Kurama's face. "Yo, fox boy…what's up?"

Kurama looked over to Yusuke. "He's developing brain scanning technology," Kurama stated.

"Oh yeah," Kuwabara spoke up. "I've actually been helping him develop it."

"Wait…" Hiei said trailing off. "You actually did something useful?"

Kuwabara didn't even grace Hiei with a response. Instead, he walked over to his boss's office and shut the door. The other four boys stared at each other curiously. The Kuwabara walked out and said, "We can use one of the two prototypes."

"He's just letting us take it?" Hiei asked with distrust.

"You would be surprised how lenient he is," Kuwabara replied. "Anyway, I said we needed to run a test on it and a friend offered. We're actually doing him a favor."

"I'm good with that," Kuronue stated, "though it would have been nice to get back in the game."

"Whatever," Hiei muttered. "Let's just go."

* * *

Kaiya didn't know what was going on anymore. During her class she had zoned out, only to be brought out of her trance by Yukina's gentle hand. The hybrid shook her head. She had brought Yukina back to Genkai's temple after her class. Then she drove to the ocean, to sit and relax. She didn't want to think about anything.

She just felt so disconnected and out of place, despite being a generally happy person. Still, it wasn't like her to completely shut down on her friends. She knew that was a problem. At least she was letting them help her, though. She didn't think she could figure things out on her own.

Sighing for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day, Kaiya looked off to the left and was surprised to see a man standing on the beach. He looked to be a few inches taller than her with black hair in the shape of a flame. Something about the man seemed highly familiar, but Kaiya had no idea how she recognized him.

He looked over to her as if he sensed her watching him. Kaiya smiled at the guy and lifted her hand to wave at him. The man growled at her and turned away. _Strange, _Kaiya thought, feeling even more displaced. She decided to start walking over to him.

The man flashed her a look that screamed "take another step and I'll kill you." Kaiya stopped dead in her tracks as the man took off to the sky. She watched him fly and then looked back over to the water. Part of her was wondering if that guy just needed to get away too, and if so from what. Maybe he was like her and felt connected to nature. Shrugging it off, she ran back to her car and started heading home. That reminded her, she really needed to sleep. She only hoped she could stay awake on her drive home.

* * *

She didn't know that across town, the man she had seen on the beach was pondering who she was as well. Vegeta could not shake the feeling that he knew the strange human girl on the beach, which was strange because he had only been on Earth for a couple of months while waiting for the Dragon Balls to become active again. His plan was to see Kakarot again, defeat him, and then leave to go who knows where. He hadn't had time to meet any other Earthlings then the buffoons Kakarot had as friends. The only females he had had the displeasure of interacting with were Kakarot's harpy, his blue-haired best friend, and the crazy blonde woman that lived in the compound.

He definitely did not meet this girl on Earth. Question was, where did he know her from? He tried thinking back over his time with Frieza and he couldn't place her anywhere. Growing in frustration, Vegeta decided to forgo his thoughts, not caring. It didn't matter to him how he knew this girl, at least, that's what he told himself.

He returned to Bulma's house and found the woman reading a magazine in the kitchen. Not wanting to deal with another argument at the moment, he started to head to the room he currently occupied in the large home.

"Where do you think you're going?" he heard her ask. He growled again, wanting so much to blast the woman standing in front of him. She sounded so condescending and it annoyed him, being talked down to like a child. He didn't grace her with a response. He just stared at her.

"What does it matter to you?" Vegeta spat at her. When Bulma didn't cringe or stand down, he sighed in frustration. She was looking at him with worried eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that, woman?"

Bulma frowned and said, "You honestly don't know, do you?" Vegeta shook his head. "Vegeta, I think you had a nightmare last night."

Vegeta's expression darkened as he turned to fully face her. "And did I say anything?" he asked in curiosity.

"Not anything I could understand," she answered honestly. "But you kind of blew a hole in the wall between our rooms. I…just wanted to tell you that I'm concerned and well, if you want to talk about whatever you're dreaming, I'll listen."

"I can't," Vegeta grumbled out.

"It was just an offer," Bulma said defensively.

"No, I mean…I can't tell you what I'm dreaming, because I never remember when I wake up." Vegeta silently cursed himself for giving that kind of information, but it sounded like he managed to attack the woman in her sleep, so she deserved to know.

"Really?" Bulma asked in surprise. "That's…different." Vegeta's eyes narrowed at her. "No, I mean, it's just strange that you can't recall you dreams. Hey, I have an idea. My dad has been working with mind scanning technology. If you want, I could investigate for you."

Vegeta thought about it for a brief second before, but the frowned again. "Why should I trust you?" Vegeta scoffed. "I would never lower myself to being a science experiment."

"Vegeta, don't look at it like that," Bulma said reassuringly. "I think I can help you. It's better than having nightmares where you could hurt yourself, never knowing where it's coming from. What do you have to lose?"

"Let's say I do this," Vegeta said glaring at her heatedly. "How would you go about it?"

"Well, we'd have to get you to sleep," Bulma said, "and then in a sleep induced state, I'd be able to scan your mind and-"

"You want to do what to me?" Vegeta shouted. "You think for a second I would let you force me into an unconscious state? I will not drop my defenses for you to do God knows what to my head. It's not happening."

Before Bulma could say anything in response, Vegeta raced up the stairs. She heard his door slam and then winced. She was only offering for his own good, as well as the safety of those in the house. Had she been in her room instead of working on a project at the lab, she would have been his next victim, and it wouldn't have even been his fault. She had just wanted him to give his consent, so that she didn't have to go to plan B.

Plan B was to drug him, which Bulma was fully against. Unfortunately, for his safety and her family's, she would need to cross that line. She just had to keep reminding herself that this was for his own good. Hopefully she would find something useful and he would not be TOO furious with her for meddling.

* * *

Kaiya was doing her homework, but was distracted from her earlier encounter on the beach. Flicking her pencil back and forth, she stared at the words in her textbook while resting her head on her arm. She couldn't figure out why she was feeling so haunted by the look of disgust in the eyes of the strange man she had seen. Part of it hurt her, making her feel an overwhelming sense of rejection, and she didn't even know the person rejecting her.

Slightly growling in frustration, Kaiya shot up from her chair and moved to go get a plethora of snacks. When she turned, Hiei was standing in her doorway staring back at her. "Hn, you look like crap," Hiei pointed out in his oh so delicate manner.

"Not in the mood, Hiei," Kaiya breathed out. She saw Hiei's expression become one of concern and realized how exhausted and out of it she must have sounded. "What's going on?"

"Well, we didn't have to steal anything," Hiei joked slightly.

Kaiya rolled her eyes and then smiled. "Were you worried about what I'd say if you did?"

"Hn, don't flatter yourself," Hiei retorted while attempting to hide his blush. "Anyway, we have everything we need and we can do this tonight…if you're still up for it."

Kaiya nodded. She couldn't take the exhaustion anymore, plus her friends wouldn't leave her alone if she didn't at least let them try. "Let's get this over with," she muttered unhappily. "Let me guess, Kuwabara's right?"

"Seeing as his sister won't ask questions, yes," Hiei replied with a nod. He walked over to Kaiya and took her hand, squeezing it slightly in reassurance. Kaiya smiled to her boyfriend's uncharacteristic gesture. Hiei may not have been one for emotion, but he would always comfort her when it counted, and she knew by the same time tomorrow, she would need every ounce of comfort.

* * *

Bulma felt guilty as she placed her Saiyan houseguest's food on the table. Tonight was the perfect opportunity to investigate his nightmares, especially with her parents out. It gave her the excuse to prepare Vegeta's food without question, and also to get away with drugging the Saiyan into a semi-conscious state. Only then would she be able to use her father's prototype to get into his head.

And as she finished placing the food on the table, Vegeta was there, called forth by his Saiyan appetite. Bulma flashed him a smile to which he just sneered and took a seat. Vegeta began to eat the food, ignoring the fact that Bulma was staring at him intensely. He hoped that if he just continued to ignore her, she would go away. Then, out of nowhere, he began to feel drowsy, even more so than usual.

"Woman, what did you do?" he growled out, standing up wearily and readying himself to blast her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bulma said with innocence. "But hey, you don't look so good. Maybe you should take it easy."

"I will not 'take is easy,'" Vegeta snarled. "You did something to me and I demand to know…what…it…is…" he said attempting to stalk threateningly towards her. However, he ended up on the floor.

"Huh, well that could have gone better," Bulma said to herself. "Now I have to figure out a way to move him to the couch."

Bulma sighed and then worked on moving the Saiyan to the couch. She put the mind scanning wires on his forehead and turned on the computer simulator. "Alright, Vegeta, let's see what's going on in there."

* * *

"Are you sure this is safe?" Kaiya asked nervously. "I mean, have you ever put anyone under with the Jagan before?"

Hiei flashed Kaiya a look of disbelief. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Kaiya sighed. "Never mind." She looked over to the monitor at the many waves that appeared. "So…how will you actually be able to tell what I'm dreaming? It'll appear on the screen?"

"Yes," Kurama replied. "In theory."

"I hate when people say 'in theory,'" Kaiya muttered. "If you don't know, then don't bother answering."

"Someone's moody," Yusuke scoffed. "This'll definitely be good for you then."

"Shut up," Kaiya retorted. She lied down and tried to close her eyes. Whatever she did, she could not relax. Feeling the presence of her boyfriend in her mind caused her to release a small yelp. She jumped up, but the fire demon gently held her down.

"You need to calm down," Hiei told her. "I'm not going to hurt you. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Kaiya sighed and leaned into his hand as she felt him forcing her under. It took her a while to finally relax and let him take over. The next thing she knew, everything went dark, and all she heard was the silent humming of the mind scanner.

"Okay, now what?" Yusuke asked Kurama loudly. Hiei flashed him a slight glare, silencing him, so that he could focus on keeping Kaiya under. Kurama just motioned to the monitor. So far, her brainwaves were normal. They waited for about fifteen minutes before there was an abnormality.

"What the…?" Kuwabara asked hesitantly. He looked over to Hiei whose eyes were now opened, widened with shock. "Hey, shrimp…what's wrong?"

"Kaiya blocked me out," he said in a panic. "Her telepathic abilities activated and then knocked me out of her head."

"What?" Yusuke shouted. "How can she do that? The Jagan is more powerful than her abilities, right?"

Hiei shook his head. "Apparently not," he muttered in irritation. Really he was just trying to hide his concern as something appeared on the monitor. "Hey, what's that?"

Everyone turned to look at the screen and saw that the waves on the monitor were replaced by a visual. Their faces expressed their deep confusion at what they were seeing, but what shocked them more is what they were hearing.

"_I was getting back from another purge with Nappa and Raditz. Frieza ordered us to his throne room for us to discuss our progress with Planet Trenea. I hated bowing down before that lizard, yet here we were kneeling at his feet giving him a detailed report on the events that took place on Trenea. He was pleased and dismissed us, but not before giving Raditz and I new missions. Raditz was being sent to another planet with some of Frieza's other soldiers and there was nothing either Nappa, Raditz, or I could do about it. I waited to hear my orders."_

"Um, should it concern us that Kaiya's voice sounds like a guy right now?" Kuronue finally spoke up.

"It's not her voice!" Hiei snapped at the bat demon.

"Okay, okay, jeez, it was just a joke," Kuronue defended. "Everything seems fine, anyways."

_I had to wait until Frieza briefed Raditz on his mission. When Frieza was finished describing the mission in boring detail, he dismissed Nappa and Raditz. I was expecting another beating, but was surprised when he called Zarbon out. He was carrying a little girl who appeared to be sleeping._

"_Your mission is simple," Frieza said. "All you have to do is keep this child safe from the men on my ship, including me." He was suggesting that he planned to harm her and if she didn't survive it would be my responsibility. I checked my scouter. Her power level was small, but decent for a young, non-Saiyan child…about 50._

_Zarbon handed the kid to me and I reluctantly brought her to my quarters._

"Last time I checked…a child version of Kaiya being handed over to a stranger by some creepy, purple lizard is not 'fine,'" Hiei sneered. He continued to watch what was happening in confusion. They were supposed to be seeing into Kaiya's head, not some guy. Something must have happened when she opened her telepathic connection. At least now they would get some answers.

"_Who's the kid?" Nappa asked as I entered the room._

_I laid her down on my bed and glared at her. "My assignment. I have to keep her alive even if Frieza decided to have his way with her."_

_Nappa shrugged. "That sucks. What's her power level?"_

_I scoffed. "Only fifty."_

"_Frieza is only doing this because he wants you to fail, you know," Nappa stated. I nodded in agreement. "I'm going to get us some food. Should I get the kid anything?"_

_I shook my head. "We'll worry about it if she wakes up." Nappa nodded and left._

_Now how am I supposed to keep this little thing safe from Frieza and his men and what the hell do they want from her? On second thought, why do I care? Because it's my life if she's killed._

_I was brought out of my thought when the girl stirred in her sleep. I watched her wake up and take in her surroundings. Then she looked directly at me. I couldn't help but scowl. She remained unfazed. She looked around again._

At least now they would be able to see what happened.

* * *

Bulma was very confused. She had done everything she was supposed to according to her father's notes, yet instead of seeing brainwaves, she saw pictures. That was not how the technology was supposed to work. What was even stranger was that she was looking at a teen version of Vegeta and listening to the voice of a girl, a small child by the sounds of it. She too seemed very confused.

**I don't know how it happened, but it did. I was walking to my "superhero classes" and I ran into my friend/enemy, Alexia. We said our goodbyes and after turning a few corners, something happened. I don't know what, but I lost consciousness. I woke up in some place I didn't recognize and wondered if I got myself into trouble again. I then noticed a teenage boy staring at me (or into space). He noticed me staring and glared at me. I looked around again to see if I could figure out where I was.**

**I thought maybe he was sent to hurt me, but he didn't seem scary so I decided to be friendly and try to get to my class. I'm sure I was already late and that this boy would understand me wanting to get there as soon as possible. We chatted for a little while but I got confused when he asked me what planet I was from. We were still on Earth, right?**

"**Excuse me, but where am I? I'm supposed to be going to going to a class a self-defense class. I'm training to be a child spy."** Vegeta scowled, but it seemed like he was angrier about the fact that he was dealing with a child.

"**How old are you, girl?" Vegeta asked her. **Yup, that definitely proved Bulma's prediction.

"**I'm nine years old,"** the girl answered. **"I'd like to stay and chat but I really need to get to class. If I don't go I'll get in trouble. The person in charge is a mean person and if I skip class I'll be punished severely. Can you help me get back?"**

* * *

_She really had no idea what was going on. There was no going back and there was no way I could help her. But why would I even want to? "You can't go back," I finally answered. She looked at me in shock and then pulled her knees to her chest and started crying quietly._

"_Why not?" she asked in a whisper._

_I didn't even know. Maybe this answer would suffice. "Because you're not on your planet anymore. You are on a spaceship owned by Frieza."_

"_Who is Frieza?" she asked wiping her eyes. "And I don't believe you. Aliens aren't real."_

_I stared at her in disbelief. How could anyone possibly say that? Where was this kid from?_

"_Where are you from?"_

_She looked at me and answered, "I'm from New York."_

_That sounded like a region to me. "I meant what planet are you from, girl?"_

"_My name is Kaiya, and I'm from Earth."_

_That explained a lot. I heard rumors of a planet that pretended alien life didn't exist. Other soldiers had at some point found themselves on Earth for at least a day. It was an in-between point between galaxies. I had never been there, though. Before I could think to ask her any questions, one of Frieza's men entered my chamber._

"_Frieza is requesting the presence of the little girl."_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up!" Yusuke shouted. "Kaiya was abducted by aliens? That explains so much."

And this earned him a smack over the head by Hiei. "Can you be serious for once?" Hiei snapped. "We don't know that they were aliens. She was NINE! She probably didn't understand anything going on. They're probably some weird breed of demon."

"Hiei, calm down," Kurama ordered. "Your energy is fluctuating rapidly and I doubt you want to call upon the Dragon of the Darkness Flame right now."

Hiei's eyes widened. He hadn't even realized that he let himself go that far. He too could feel the Dragon stirring under his bandages. Taking a deep breath, he managed to settle himself and the Dragon, before returning to Kaiya's side and taking hold of her hand.

"That still isn't explaining who this guy is," Kuwabara stated, "though he does sound incredibly familiar, don't you think?"

"It would help if we could see him," Kuronue muttered. "Speaking of which, why are we seeing this from his memory and not from Kaiya's." No one knew how to answer that.

* * *

**When I asked him if I could go back to class, he said I couldn't and I became scared. I would be in so much trouble if I skipped. He told me we weren't on my planet and that we were on some guy named Free-zer's spaceship. But I was always told aliens weren't real. And any of the show with aliens portrayed them as evil and scary.**

**I was now terrified, especially when a scary looking alien walked through the door and said Free-zer wanted to see me. I looked over to the teenage boy I met and hoped he would stop the alien from taking me away, but he looked away. I screamed for help all the way to a throne room (?), yet no one came to help.**

**I came face to face with a very scary alien and I could sense that his power was high.**

"**So you are finally awake, I see," he said with a creepy voice. I couldn't help but to shake slightly. I felt really cold…maybe that's why his name was Freezer. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I flew into the wall. I looked up at the alien to see him scowling. "I asked you a question and you are to answer it." I asked myself what question he asked me. Didn't he just state that I was awake. That wasn't a question. "Don't make me ask you again."**

**I simply nodded and he gave me a creepy smile. He walked back to his throne and his men directed me to follow. I didn't know what else to do so I went with it. Maybe I could escape or at least figure out why I was here. I looked around at the other soldiers. They were stronger than me and there were more of them so escape wouldn't happen. I chose the latter of my plans.**

"**Why am I here?" I asked. **

**I received a punch in the face from a blue guy with green hair. **

"**You dare speak to Lord Frieza like that?" **_**Like what? **_**I thought to myself.**

"**I just asked a question," I said with confusion in my voice. I was hit harder that time. My head hit the floor really hard, but I got back up only to be hit back down again.**

"**Zarbon, that's enough," Frieza (?) said. He looked at me a smirked again. "The girl wants to know why she's here. I think it's time we let her know."**

**I was hit a few times by Frieza before I couldn't move. I heard my bones crack after being hit into the wall repeatedly. I didn't understand how anyone could laugh while doing something so mean. I was screaming in pain and he kept hitting (well more like beating) me. I sensed someone run into the throne room but I refused to open my eyes; I just kept screaming. I felt myself being carried away by someone.**

Bulma frowned as she heard more of the little girl's story. It was clear that she had no connection to the tyrant and yet he was viciously beating her senseless. It made Bulma frown because it reminded her that Vegeta had grown up in that type of environment. Speaking of which, the Saiyan was still out cold, yet he was not attacking her in his sleep. It was strange, because he always seemed to struggle in his sleep. This new presence, this Kaiya, must have been the cause for his peace, but Bulma could not figure out why.

"How do you know this girl, Vegeta?" she asked herself. "And what happened to her." Bulma silently pondered this as she watched the memories continue to play on the screen.

* * *

A/N: Okay, this long, over 5,000 word chapter is a present for lucifvegeta. A reward for working so hard :)


	3. Chapter 2 - Alien Stranger

Disclaimer: Don't own the DBZ or YYH characters. Just some (many) OCs.

* * *

Yusuke and Kuwabara had left the room and returned with a bunch of movie snacks. Hiei glared heatedly at them as they started munching on popcorn and slurping away on soda. "Do you MIND?" he asked incredulously.

Yusuke looked at him like he was nuts. "What? This is the best sci-fi movie we've seen in a while. Might as well get comfortable," he said. "Besides, it's not like there's anything bad happening like would have happened in her dreams, right?"

Hiei growled and crossed his arms. Pouting, he looked back to the screen and his eyes nearly flew out of their sockets.

_After the soldier left, I waited a few minutes before I left for Frieza's throne room. He hinted on what he was planning and if I wanted to keep my life, I had to make sure she lived through the beating she was about to receive._

_I entered the throne room just in time to see her on the ground, screaming in pain. Something inside me snapped seeing her like that. Frieza smirked in my direction and he was about to blast her away. I was quick enough to get her out of the way. Frieza wasn't happy about that. Nappa was right; he wanted me to fail._

_I glared in his direction, but bowed to him anyway. I left the throne room and headed to the infirmary. This kid needed medical attention and she needed it now._

_The doctors set her up in the regeneration chamber and told me it would take a few hours. It was already late and they were heading to their chambers for the night._

_I glared at the unconscious child. In less than an hour she's managed to irritate me, make me miss dinner, get Frieza pissed at me, and now, I won't even be able to get to sleep at a decent hour…not that I require much sleep, but it's still infuriating._

_I read her file that the doctors so stupidly left out. I saw the information she gave me: Kaiya Ishii, 9 years old from Planet Earth. I continued to read: power level 50, hidden powers unknown, power level higher than those on Earth, potential threat to the Cold Empire. All I could think was 'why?'_

Yusuke thought he could actually feel flame dancing on his skin as Hiei glared at him. "You were saying?" he bit out in a dark and dangerous voice.

Yusuke chuckled nervously before putting the snacks aside. "Um, yeah…sorry about that," he said wishing he had just stayed in the room. Even Kuwabara looked as guilty as he felt. They couldn't believe that Kaiya had been hurt that badly before…especially as a child.

* * *

**That was the last thing I remembered before I lost consciousness. The next thing I knew I was in a small space surrounded by liquid. I thought I was drowning. I tried to fight my way out but I couldn't; I kept hitting the walls of whatever I was in. The boy from earlier got me out of the tank and ripped a mask off my face. I guess I had been able to breathe the entire time, but I was too panicked to realize that.**

**I hid my face in his chest and cried until I felt him rubbing my back. It reminded me of my mommy back home. When I stopped crying, he picked me up and we left the room.**

"**I saw it," I said to him.**

"**Saw what?" he asked.**

"**The stars****. Through the ceiling of that…that…scary guy's ceiling. We really are in space, aren't we?" He nodded. "And I'm never going home, am I?" He didn't say anything. "Why?"**

"**I don't know," he said. I didn't know either. At least for now I was safe and this boy was taking care of me. I asked him who he was and he told me. I asked a lot of questions before he got mad at me. It scared me. I didn't want to be punished, so I apologized.**

"**I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad."**

"**Look kid, I'm not mad. I just don't like talking to people. It's not you; it's everyone. Got it?" I felt better that he wasn't mad at me, but sad because he didn't like talking to people.**

Bulma felt her heart clench at the anxiety and fear that the little girl felt. It warmed her, though, that the cold-hearted Saiyan she had come to know had a soft spot for the little girl. Maybe she reminded him of himself when he was younger; maybe that was why he acted so calmly around her. And then something struck Bulma. Had the little girl said that he cried?

* * *

_Looking over to the regeneration chamber, I saw her struggling. Her heart rate was high and she looked panicked. A nightmare? Now I know what Nappa had to deal with when I have nightmares. Watching her in such distress was bothering me and I still hadn't figured out why I cared. I shouldn't._

_The girl, Kaiya, woke up which never happens when one is in the regeneration chamber (too much sedative). Her cuts and bruises had been healed and she had one remaining scar on her right arm. Kaiya was panicking and I couldn't figure out why other than she was scared of Frieza. It wasn't until she started flailing in the chamber and trying to find a way out that I realized what was wrong. _She's claustrophobic….

_Immediately, I emptied the tank of its fluid and got the mask off of her. She started crying and buried her face in my chest. She refused to calm down. What the hell was I supposed to do? Maybe… I started rubbing her back, hoping she would calm down. It worked and I picked her up and started walking back to the room I shared with Nappa._

"_I saw it," I heard her say._

"_Saw what?"_

"_The stars," she answered. "Through the ceiling of that…that…scary guy's ceiling. We really are in space, aren't we?" I nodded. "And I'm never going home, am I?" I didn't answer. "Why?"_

_All I could say was, "I don't know."_

_She looked up at me again, this time in curiosity._

"_Who are you?" she asked. Great, question. I wanted to ignore her, but couldn't._

"_Vegeta."_

_She giggled. "That sounds like vegetable."_

"_Hn." Please let her be done with questions. She's young. What more could she possibly want to know?_

"_How old are you?" Damn._

"_Sixteen."_

"_Why are you here?" God help me…_

"_None of your concern," I growled. She frowned and teared up. _What now?

"_I'm sorry," she said. What was she apologizing for? "I didn't mean to make you mad."_

_I sighed in frustration. This was going to be a LONG assignment. "Look kid, I'm not mad. I just don't like talking to people. It's not you; it's everyone. Got it?"_

_Kaiya shook her head. "It's not good to keep things to yourself. It can be bad for you and others to keep things bottled up."_

Smart kid_, I thought. Still, I refused to tell her or anyone else anything._

Kurama looked at Hiei's saddened expression. "Hiei, what's wrong?"

"Kaiya said something similar to me before we started dating," Hiei admitted. "I can't believe she was this selfless when she was just a little kid."

"Really, Hiei?" Yusuke asked. "I mean, she's dedicated her life to taking care of ocean animals. What did you expect?"

"For the girl who just met her father the year before, a lot more anger," Hiei replied. Yusuke shut up after that.

"Hey, did you guys notice anything strange?" Kuwabara asked.

"Like what?" Kuronue muttered. "Other than the fact that she's in space!"

"No, not that," Kuwabara said in thought. "Did the guy say his name was Vegeta?"

The five spirit detective looked to one another with wide eyes. Wasn't that the name of the guy who had been smashing around Capsule Corp.?

* * *

**We got back to his room and I saw a man sleeping in the other bed. I didn't know who he was. Vegeta looked at food on the table and then back at me. I remembered that I had lunch on me when I saw my backpack lying on the other side of the room. Vegeta just stared at me. I didn't know what he was thinking, but he looked back to the food. He probably wanted to know if I was hungry.**

"**I have lunch with me," I said. "I was going to a class and I was going to be there all night, so I packed food." **

**Vegeta grunted in response and I started to unpack my lunch. Nibbling on it in silence, I watched as Vegeta continued to eat a large amount of food. He was still eating when I was done.**

**I saw him staring at the wall across the room, thinking hard about something and it made me worry. He looked so sad and I didn't want someone who was so nice to me to be sad.**

"**Vegeta?" He looked over at me instantly. "Are you okay?"**

Bulma was shocked at how perceptive the little girl was. She seemed to really understand those around her, and she was very sweet. The Earthling smiled as she thought about the fact that Vegeta had been exposed to that kind of consideration Earthlings possessed, but then she frowned again.

Vegeta couldn't get access to these memories, or else she wouldn't be doing this in the first place. Did that mean he didn't remember little Kaiya? Or had something terrible happened that caused this memory block. Had Frieza done something to the girl?

* * *

"_I have lunch with me," she said. "I was going to a class and I was going to be there all night, so I packed food."_

_Yes, that class she mentioned. Training to be a spy? Sounded like a she had an innocent imagination, but with the power level she had, I couldn't help but wonder if she was telling the truth. If that was the case, how much trouble would she face for being here? Pfft, what did it matter? She wasn't going back anytime soon._

_I began to eat my food and was still eating when she had finished. I was surprised to see how she finished her food in a few minutes. It reminded me of how Saiyans ate back on Vegeta-sei. That thought left a bittersweet taste in my mouth and instantly ruined my appetite (surprising since I hadn't eaten in weeks)._

"_Vegeta?" I looked over to her. "Are you okay?"_

_I scoffed at her question. We were on a ship with a sadistic tyrant. I don't think any of us could be considered 'okay.'_

"_No, but then again, I never am." _Where the hell did that come from?_ I suddenly felt ill and put my hand to my forehead. Then something unexpected happened._

_I looked down and saw Kaiya hugging my waist. I was shocked. How could this little, innocent girl hug me, a cold-blooded murderer? It didn't make sense to me._

"I bet you feel the same way sometimes," Yusuke taunted Hiei.

Hiei was struggling to restrain himself. Yusuke was getting on his last nerve. Whether or not he respected Yusuke as his team leader and friend did not lessen his desire to kill him in that moment. Then he heard Kaiya let out a small whimper from the bed.

All attention was on her before Kurama and Kuronue looked back at the screen.

_Sighing, I picked her up and put her to bed. I was going to sleep in my chair, but I felt her hand on mine, tugging on me. I looked down at her and whatever was left of my heart nearly broke._

"_Can't you stay with me?" she asked innocently, fear darkening her eyes. "At least until I fall asleep? Please? I'm scared and I miss my mommy. I don't want to be left alone."_

_I reluctantly agreed and got into the bed next to her, and she curled into me holding me in a vice grip. There would be no way for me to get up even if she did fall asleep. "Goodnight, Geta," she mumbled as she fell asleep. Leaving me speechless, I fell asleep right after._

* * *

Bulma had seen some terrible things in her life, and within the last year most of it was caused by Vegeta. However, now seeing this softness in his younger self, she couldn't help but think so much highly of him.

**He actually stayed with me, and I felt safe.**

Bulma looked back to the face of the sleeping prince, a smile dusting her face. Despite what he would have anyone believe, he truly must have a heart of gold to care for the little girl the way he did. Kaiya definitely had to be someone of great importance for him to have lowered his guard that much.

**Then I had a bad dream; it was about Frieza. **Bulma's face fell again.

**I was shaken awake and saw an older man looking down at me. I tried to get away from him on the other side of the bed, but for some reason he looked like he was concerned for me. I was still unsure of him.**

"**Who…who are you?" I asked fearfully.**

**The man stared at me and rubbed his head as if he were nervous.**

"**Where's Geta?" I asked looking around before he could even respond. He looked fearful for a moment.**

"**Uh…" he finally spoke up. "Well, Vegeta went for a little walk. He'll be back soon. Vegeta said your name is Kaiya?" I nodded in response. "Well, Kaiya, I'm Nappa."**

"**Are you Geta's friend?" I was hoping he was.**

"**Uh, yeah, you can say that," he answered. I relaxed slightly, but not by much. "Are you okay?"**

**I nodded, but I was still afraid. All of a sudden, he started to make funny faces. I couldn't help but laugh. He told me he used to do that for Vegeta when he was a little kid, and so I told him about a game I knew, "Pat-a-cake." I yawned and lied back down, and Nappa tucked me in.**

"**Goodnight, little one," he said. I smiled before falling asleep.**

Even Bulma couldn't believe the same Nappa that killed her friends acted so kindly towards the little girl, or even Vegeta. It made her wonder what happened between Vegeta and Nappa that led Vegeta to kill the older Saiyan.

* * *

_The next morning I woke up and I actually felt at peace. Kaiya was still asleep; however, Nappa was already awake and dressed._

"_What's her story?" he asked me._

"_She's from Earth," I answered. "Her name is Kaiya and she's nine. She has some special power that she probably knows nothing about. According to her file, she's a threat to the Cold Empire. Frieza is probably going to attempt to break her and use her to purge planets, like…" I couldn't finish the sentence._

"_Like you?" Nappa asked cautiously. I ignored him._

"_Other than Frieza, the other things I'll have to monitor is that she's claustrophobic and afraid to be alone. If Frieza figures this out, he'll use it to break her quicker and she'll probably lose her sanity."_

"_Well, that's just great. She's going to end up getting you into trouble."_

_I looked at her and let a sad smile show. "I know."_

_She moved and sat up with her eyes still closed and yawned. Rubbing her eyes she called out to me. "Geta?"_

_I walked over to her. "I'm right here, girl. What do you need?"_

"_I'm hungry," she answered. I heard Nappa chuckle and I soon followed._

"_I'll go out and get us all some food," Nappa said. I was shocked. Nappa, the royal guard who was normally cut-throat, was acting somewhat kindly towards this little girl. How, after only minutes of knowing her, did either of us soften up that much?_

_I nodded to Nappa and he took his leave. Kaiya got up and I saw that her clothes were torn from yesterday. How did I not notice that? I headed towards the door when I felt her ki spike._

"_Relax," I said without looking at her. "I'm just going to find you some suitable clothes to replace those rags. I'll be back soon." With that I took my leave._

_I found some clothing in a room where I normally pick up new armor after missions. I overheard the other soldiers talking and heard that Frieza left the ship and wouldn't be back for a few days. I hadn't heard news that wonderful in years, especially after the beating he gave me the night before when Kaiya was still sleeping (punishment for ruining his "fun" with the girl). That meant, for the time being, anyway, that Kaiya would be safe from Frieza. The only ones I would have to watch out for would most likely be Cui, Dodoria, and Zarbon…how I hated them so, but not as much as Frieza himself._

_I returned to the room to find Nappa and Kaiya eating breakfast. She was making a mess, but apparently she was doing it on purpose. I chuckled at that. She heard me and looked over to me. She got off the bed and ran over to me. I was taken by surprise as she jumped up into my arms and hugged me. "Morning, Geta," she said happily. I'll never understand her attitude. Scared one minute, happy another…strange child._

_She ran over to the bed and picked up a piece of paper with the drawing of a blue and green sphere. She must have had materials in that bag that Zarbon delivered the day before._

"_It's Planet Earth," she said while smiling. She was obviously very proud of her drawing. On the back she wrote "There's no place like home" three times. I didn't understand the significance, but one thing was clear…she missed her planet. I knew the feeling._

_After we finished eating, I told Nappa the news about Frieza._

"_Good," he responded, "we won't have to deal with the bastard for three days."_

"_What's a bastard?" Kaiya asked innocently. Nappa and I looked at each other after forgetting we were around a child, an innocent child who probably didn't hear words like that often._

"_Something you shouldn't say," I answered. I just realized how much I sounded like an older brother or something, but shrugged it off._

"_Oh, so it's a bad word?" she asked and I nodded. "Okay, Geta. I won't say it."_

_I grunted an approval and got up to get into my armor._

"_What's that?" Kaiya asked._

_Nappa chuckled. "Well, you're full of questions, aren't you?" Kaiya smiled and nodded. "Well, that's armor that we used in battle and to train."_

"_Are you guys super heroes?"_

_I frowned when she asked that. Nappa just stared at her blankly._

"_Let's just go train," I said. Nappa nodded and turned to Kaiya._

"_What do we do about her?"_

"_She's coming with us."_

_Kaiya's face lit up and she ran over to me and grabbed my hand. She then looked behind me curiously. I quirked an eyebrow, curious to know what she was looking at._

"_You have a tail," she stated. She went to touch it and I smacked her hand away._

"_No," I said._

"_Why?"_

"_Because I said so."_

"_Okay." I was surprised she gave up so easily. I was more surprised by my own reaction. Normally I would have blasted anyone who attempted to touch my tail; I didn't do that with her._

"Aw, she's so adorable when she's curious," Yusuke said with a grin. "Hey, this guy really is acting like an older brother. Are we sure it's the same Vegeta from Capsule Corp.?"

"How many other Vegeta's do you know?" Kuronue asked. "And it's an ALIEN name, so the fact that there's a guy on Earth named Vegeta draws a red flag. I mean, didn't he say Planet Vegeta-sei or something like that? What more evidence do you need?"

"Well, Doc. Briefs and his daughter are really good with technology," Kuwabara stated. "It's possible the trip she went on was in space, right?"

"Yeah, how?" Yusuke asked.

Hiei just sat and listened to the guys bickering. He looked over to Kurama who seemed to be pondering something. "Fox, you haven't said anything in over an hour. What's the problem?"

"Well," Kurama started hesitantly, "months ago there was a reported alien sighting. And entire city was destroyed by two alien invaders; however, after a time, the city was reported to be fine and the inhabitants didn't seem to remember anything. Maybe they did something on the planet, and that's how he came to know the Briefs."

"Wait, your saying these guys came to purge us or whatever word he used was?" Yusuke asked in disbelief. "If that's the case, maybe it's better Kaiya doesn't remember them."

"That's not your call to make!" Hiei shouted at Yusuke. He was so close to ripping the detective's head off. "If Kaiya felt safe with him, then when she wakes up, if this guy is this person from her memory, it will be HER choice to know him or not. You cannot make the decision for her. You know she hates that."

"Okay, settle down," Yusuke said motioning his hands downward. Then he looked back. "Wait, he said he got beaten for protecting Kaiya. Why is this lizard guy giving him the task of protecting her when he wants to kill both of them?"

"I will never understand how certain individuals behave," Kurama said darkly. "The fact that he brought children into his organization is despicable. I hope we never cross paths for if we did, my death plant would be feasting on his life force."

Kuwabara leaned over to Yusuke and whispered in his ear, "I forgot how scary he can be when he's pissed off."

"Tell me about it," Yusuke muttered. He still could feel Hiei's eyes burning into the back of his skull. "If I don't make it out of this alive, tell Keiko I love her."

Kuwabara rolled his eyes. "If you're so worried, tell her yourself."

Yusuke chuckled nervously before watching more of this crazy world Kaiya once knew.

_The three of us walked to the training ground. Kaiya seemed to be taking in her surroundings. We received stares from some of Frieza's soldiers, but none of them would try anything…unless they wanted to die. I was sure Nappa was thinking the same way I was._

_Nappa and I trained for a few hours before we decided to spar with each other. Kaiya was watching intently. I was worried that our fight would traumatize her, but she seemed to enjoy it. She kept cheering for me to win…I had never heard anyone cheer for me before._

_I heard Nappa chuckled. "I guess we know who her favorite is," he said. "I have to admit, part of me is jealous."_

_I rolled my eyes at him and took the opportunity to hit him in the gut. He fell to the ground and after I settled down, I helped him up. Kaiya came over to us clapping and laughing. She thought we were fighting for sport…how naïve._

_She went over to Nappa and hugged his leg. "You learn more from a loss more than a victory," she said. Where did she learn that? She was pretty wise for a nine year old. Nappa picked her up._

"_Thanks for the comfort, kid," he said. "You're not half bad." Kaiya giggled and smiled._

_The walk back to our room was quiet and Kaiya seemed to be lost in thought. I'm sure all she was thinking about was Earth, but nothing could be done. Not until Frieza gave an order. Until then, I've decided that she's one of us…at least for now._

* * *

**The three of us remained deep in thought as we returned to the room after the spar. Nappa went to get food again and came back to find Vegeta and me in a one-sided discussion. I knew Vegeta was irritated with how much I was talking, but I'm just naturally talkative. He just let me talk, though, and I was happy because he was listening to me, like a really nice older brother.**

**Hours later Vegeta and Nappa took off their armor and got ready for bed. Vegeta let me stay with him again and I continued to tell him stories. I told him about my family and Earth before finally falling asleep. The next morning, I woke up alone. I guessed that Vegeta and Nappa went to go train again. I smirked slightly as I thought about something for my own training. I was on a highly secured spaceship. There had to be important files lying around, guarded of course. I thought it was high time I get some spy practice in before I returned home.**

"She is a bold child, that's for sure," Bulma said with a sigh. She looked over to the sleeping prince. "Seriously, she really could be related to you. She has that natural pride you seem to exude."

Vegeta grunted in his sleep, making Bulma chuckle. "I really hope for the kid's sake that she didn't get caught."


	4. Chapter 3 - Secret Uncovered

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just OCs.

* * *

Kaiya was starting to cringe in her sleep, her jaw tensing. Hiei wasn't sure how much more he could take of seeing her in anguish. She had suffered enough in the past year. This was supposed to help, not hurt her.

The fire demon felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Kurama. He was looking at him with worried eyes. "Hiei, maybe you should get out of the room for a bit," he suggested. "We both know you hate being confined to one spot."

"I'm staying here," Hiei responded. There was no way he was going to leave Kaiya alone when she was going through something so major. "I refuse to abandon her. I'm not him."

Kurama sighed. "Hiei, no one is saying you are like Jiro. Just get out for a few minutes, get something to drink or whatever. A five minute break, and then you can come back."

"Um guys," Yusuke said nervously.

"I'm NOT going," Hiei snapped back at his most trusted friend. "I promised her I wouldn't leave her side."

"Guys," Kuwabara tried.

"I know, Hiei, but she will be fine," Kurama replied calmly. "But you will drive yourself mad worrying about her."

"GUYS!" the other three in the room shouted.

Hiei and Kurama turned to them, Hiei angered, Kurama confused. "What is it?" Kurama asked.

"You're never going to believe this…" Yusuke said as everyone tuned into the scene.

_I let Kaiya sleep in this morning since we were up most of the night talking…well, she was talking. She was telling me things about Earthling culture and her family members whom I could tell she missed dearly. She taught me some songs that she brought with her (she had something called a CD player and some CD's in her bag). I liked the rock music and surprisingly, the classical. The classical was peaceful…something I'm not used to._

_Nappa and I left for the training fields. I felt compelled to write her a note with her markers and paper. We left her some food for when she woke up. I came back hours later, alone since Nappa went to the infirmary after our training session (I may have hit him a little too hard) and found Kaiya surrounded by folders, crying._

_When she saw me, she hid under the blankets and I walked over to the bed. "What's wrong?" I asked softly in fear that I might upset her further._

"_I'm sorry," she cried._

_I couldn't hide my surprise. "For what?" I asked a little more harshly than I intended. She handed me the folders. They were our files…the ones that I know to be locked in Frieza's private quarters on Saiyans._

_I felt fear for the first time in ages, not for me, but for her. "Did…did you break into Frieza's room?" I asked. I already knew the answer before she nodded solemnly. "Why?"_

"_Because he's bad," she answered. Well no duh. Of course he is and that's why she shouldn't get herself in trouble with him._

"_I know," I responded._

"_No," she said, "you don't." I tried to hide my anger. She was beaten by him once; I was beaten by him…I lost count. If anyone knows, it's me. She probably knew what I was thinking because she took the folder and turned it to a specific page and pointed to a paragraph in my file._

_It said that Frieza was responsible for the destruction of Planet Vegeta-sei. I was startled, but not surprised. I had long ago suspected that Frieza was lying to us about the meteor shower. Our planet wasn't weak. I continued to read that he had purposely called me to his ship. He knew the legend of the Super Saiyan and knew that I was most likely going to ascend. His ultimate goal was to break me, mold me into an obedient servant, and then use my power to destroy all who opposed him. That, I was not expecting._

_I looked back at Kaiya who had already cried herself to sleep. I wasn't even going to ask how she managed to get into Frieza's quarters without being caught…or at all. I decided to read her file and was disgusted with what I read._

_Her father had long ago, on the day she was born, promised that he would hand her over to the Cold Empire as a servant. She had a hidden power…something to do with fire. That fire power protected her from being killed when she was born (the report didn't go into details). Apparently, this "spy school" where she would be training was a facility owned by Frieza to get highly trained warriors for his future army. The children undergo many tortures to break them and help shape them into killers. Frieza apparently wanted to see if she was strong enough to sustain damage and before she made it to a class, had someone knock her out and kidnap her. He intended to send her back in a few weeks to undergo more torture. However, now that his plans were known, he might attempt to kill her._

_Reading my file more closely, I found that it was Kaiya's father who suggested for Frieza to destroy my planet. It's bad enough he bargained his daughter's life for protection and power, but he had to drag my home into it as well._

_I realized how similar Kaiya and I actually are. We were both bargained by our fathers for protection. Obviously Frieza wasn't a man of his word when it came to my father. Both Kaiya and I are threats to Frieza's empire and he's trying to break both of us. I can't imagine what this girl will be facing when she gets back to Earth. All I know is that some way, somehow, I will protect her if it's the last thing I do._

"If I hadn't killed Jiro," Hiei started while attempting to reign in his anger and disgust, "I would most definitely be torturing the life out of him now."

"Easy, Hiei," Yusuke said. "Kaiya's going to really need you to be calm when we tell her."

"Do we have to tell her that part?" Kuwabara asked. "It will kill her…I would prefer not to see her so devastated."

"We don't know what part has been causing the nightmares," Kurama said unhappily. That meant they would need to tell her everything verbatim. It would be difficult, but at least she had them, and if they were right about their theory, Vegeta.

_As soon as I made this revelation, _their attention was brought back to the Saiyan's thoughts, _Nappa entered the room. I threw the files at him and told him to read them carefully. He was in shock by the situation as well, but he read something that I missed._

_In her medical page, it said that she had a blood transfusion a few weeks before using Saiyan blood. I asked Nappa where they got the blood from. I learned something that I hadn't known before…I had a sister who had been sent away as an outcast, like my brother Tarble, for the lack of fighting abilities. The child had been sent to an unknown planet at the time. Apparently she was killed by one of Frieza's soldiers and her blood was kept for experimentation at a later date. Another thing I learned that day was that my sister's blood incorporated itself into Kaiya's blood. The DNA doesn't go away with Saiyan blood. So in a way (and a really bizarre and confusing way)…_

"_Kaiya is my sister?" I didn't see that coming._

"_Pretty much," Nappa responded. "Maybe that's why we feel protective over her. She's your sister and I'm the royal guard. It's my duty to protect the royal family."_

_I took in a deep breath. None of this made sense. But then I looked down at Kaiya and instantly smiled. I had a sister and I would be damned if I let Frieza or anyone else on this ship harm her again._

"Holy crap," Yusuke said, the room echoing nothing but silence. The hum of the machine was all that could be heard in that moment.

* * *

Bulma just stared at the monitor. She couldn't understand what she had just heard. "There's no way…there's just no way."

**Later on, I woke up and found that Nappa brought more food from the cafeteria than normal. Vegeta gave me more food than I was used to eating and demanded I eat it all. I didn't question him. Somehow I knew he was looking out for me.**

**All day he seemed to want to tell me something, but he waited until Nappa was asleep. I wasn't prepared for what he told me, but it made me happy.**

"**I'm your brother," he had told me. I looked at him, tilting my head in confusion. I didn't know how that was possible since I was from Earth and he was an alien. He started talking to me about blood, and I kind of lost sight of the conversation afterwards. Something about a blood transfusion and a science experiment. It didn't matter, anyway. I already saw Geta as a big brother.**

**I was still upset about being a science experiment, though. It was wrong. I started to cry, so Vegeta pulled me into his lap and started telling me about his planet...our planet? He talked to me about the culture, about how we were a strong and proud warrior race. I blinked up at him. I had never considered myself to be strong before and I was always afraid to fight. I didn't tell him that, though, because he told me that admitting weakness is worse than admitting defeat.**

**He also told me that the color of the royal house was navy blue. There was also a language that he taught me a few words for, as well as a type of mental communication that Saiyans developed with one another. It was how they could recognize each other, which is how he subconsciously knew who I was.**

**It made me sad, though, that there weren't many Saiyans left. There was at least another one, named Raditz, that was doing some type of mission. I didn't really know WHAT he was doing. When I asked Vegeta, he told me not to worry about it.**

**Before we went to sleep, I asked Vegeta if he and Nappa would go back to Earth with me, Raditz too. They would get away from the mean lizard and we could be a family. Vegeta frowned at me before pulling me into a hug. He never gave me a response, but he hugged me as if he were never going to see me again. I didn't know that he was planning to send me away the next day.**

"I knew you had a heart, Vegeta," Bulma said, stroking the sleeping Saiyan's arm comfortingly. He would have had to have one if he was willing to risk his life to protect the little girl that came into his life. And if from what Kaiya's thoughts showed her was right, her Earthling father had put them both in that terrible position. "That's more than I can say for some people. I wish I could meet this guy and give him a piece of my mind."

* * *

_The next day, Nappa and I let Kaiya sleep in again. She had woken up with us, but was tired. I had tickled her with my tail which made her giggle before putting her back to bed. I was happy she went down quietly. Nappa and I had work to do._

_We searched the launch pad for extra space pods and found a few unregistered pods that did not yet have the tracking system installed. That was her best chance of escape. We were about to go and get her ready for departure when we felt her ki spike in fear. She wasn't in our room._

_When we reached where she was we found her with Cui. She was screaming in fear and begging him to get away from her. She may be Saiyan, but she was still raised as a human. I don't even want to think of what Cui would have done if we hadn't gotten there in time, but we did and I let him have it. Nappa grabbed Kaiya and we took off for the space pod once Cui was down._

_Kaiya refused to let go of me when I tried to put her in the pod. I hadn't forgotten the claustrophobia, but this had to be done. I apologized to her in advance before knocking her unconscious, placed her in the pod, and activated the stasis. She'd be fine until she got to Earth. I used mental communication to give her one last message._

I love you, sister. Be safe. Maybe we'll be together one day in the future.

* * *

I love you, too, Geta_,_ **I communicated back to him in the softest whisper. I couldn't believe he was sending me away. I wanted him to come with me. Mommy would have loved him too. He shouldn't have stayed behind with the mean lizard that destroyed our home.**

**I don't remember much before I lost consciousness, but I do remember waking up in my bed. After that, all of my memories disappeared from me, locking themselves away in the darker places in my mind. I remember a voice telling me I would never remember no matter how much my mind wanted me to. All I knew was that I would never again see or remember my brother, and that thought scared me more than anything else.**

The transmission ended there, the screen returning to one that showed brainwaves. The shocking thing was that the lines were no longer skewed, meaning that Vegeta would now have full access to whatever memories he had, and most likely the view from Kaiya.

Bulma was worried, not that he would be mad, but what he would do with this new information. Frieza was gone, but the damage he had done was still ever present in Vegeta's life. And now this little girl, she was out there. How would he ever be able to make peace with any of this when his sister was still out there, away from him?

Bulma was so deep in her worrying that she didn't notice Vegeta had woken up. He was shocked that the woman was so upset about his own past. As he watched her tears fall, he cleared his throat. Bulma looked back at him, many apologies dancing in her eyes. They were not only apologies for drugging him and forcing him to relive his past, but for the sister he may never find again. After all, what were the chances they could find her somewhere on the blue planet.

* * *

_Nappa and I watched as the pod left. We didn't know that Dodoria had seen the whole thing. The two of us smiled knowing she was safe, and thinking it would never get traced back to us made us overly cocky._

_Days later, Frieza returned. I was in mine and Nappa's quarters reading a book from Kaiya's backpack and listening to a CD. I also found something in her bag called "Heshey's Chocolate" which tasted fantastic. I wish I had more time with her to ask more about Earth culture, but this was enough. I would always look back at her drawing of Earth and smile. Even if Earth wasn't my home, she was. I could tell Nappa felt the same way._

_The two of us were called to Frieza's throne room the day after his return, expecting a new purge mission. We had no reason to believe he knew. We received punishment upon entry._

"_Did you think I wouldn't find out?!" he screeched. "You are fools to believe I wouldn't have you being watched, you disgraceful monkeys!" He turned to Zarbon after beating us. "I want you to search their quarters. Remove and destroy anything of the Earth girl's and check their drawers for the two missing files." He turned back to us. "Dodoria will follow through with Nappa's punishment and I will personally see to yours, Vegeta. But first, damage control."_

_A woman with blonde hair showed up out of nowhere and was introduced to us as a Mind Wipe. Apparently she was of a breed of alien that could erase memories of those at a distance. I knew what was coming. Our memories of Kaiya were going to be erased, as well as Kaiya's memories of us. Frieza even mentioned something about erasing the minds of those close to Kaiya, like her mother I was guessing._

_Both of our memories were erased, mine and Nappa's. Soon we had no idea why we were being punished. Frieza took me somewhere on the ship I had never been to before…a dungeon, maybe?_

_It was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. I was chained to wall and left there...an isolation chamber, any Saiyan's or human's worst nightmare. This is where I slowly succumbed to insanity for the months I was locked away._

"This guy is an ass," Yusuke growled out. "How could he do that to a person…Saiyan…thing? This is just nuts."

Hiei was still trying to reign in his anger at both Jiro and this Frieza guy. The fact that he was so cold-hearted, to separate two siblings for some bizarre fear he might have had of their race. If the lizard was still alive today, Hiei would have loved to use the same sword he used to kill Kaiya's father to skin the tyrant alive. Maybe that would settle his bloodlust at the moment.

"Guys, unfortunately, it's not over," Kuwabara said pointing to the monitor. "I think his thoughts are continuing four years later…"

"What?" Hiei asked in shock. He listened to hear what his girlfriend's apparent brother had to say.

_My twentieth birthday came and went, not like there was anything to celebrate…we were purging yet another planet. I hated the world around me and everyone in it. After a few months to a year in isolation, I went crazy and tried to hurt myself a few times. Nappa and Raditz helped me to get back to my old self; however, that would never happen. Four more years of torture and I was ready to surrender. I became the person I hated, and like Frieza, became a ruthless killer._

_Things became tiresome and we were no longer working fast enough for Frieza, leading to more punishments. It was then that Raditz remembered his brother, Kakarot, being sent to planet Earth…a planet which its name sounded so familiar. We decided to set a course for Earth. I went to my room on Frieza's ship to pack a few essentials and found something under the bed that I could not remember. It was a drawing of a blue and green sphere. On the back it said "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home."_

"So…he really did come to Earth," Kuronue stated. "Do you think he really was behind the attack on that city, Kurama?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Kurama stated. "Nor would I blame him. It's clear to me that his actions were determined by that sadistic tyrant he was forced to work for. I could never hold it against him."

"Yeah," Yusuke agreed. "So what do we do about Kaiya? We can't just drop this huge bombshell on her."

"I agree with Urameshi," Kuwabara said in a rush. "I mean, her getting over Jiro was bad enough. What if she finds out her brother was a killer."

Hiei shot Kuwabara a look, but before he could retort, they heard Kaiya speak up. "I already know," she said, her eyes looking as shocked as theirs were.

"You…you know? How?" Yusuke asked.

Kaiya shook her head. "My powers activated and connected our minds while I was under. I have his memories and he has mine," she explained. "I've seen everything."

"Kaiya…" Hiei tried. But Kaiya put a hand on his shoulder.

"It doesn't mean he's a bad person, though," she said in reassurance. Hiei and her brother were not all the different, and the fire demon was probably afraid of how she'd react to him too after seeing so much pain another caused.

"Kaiya, we don't know that," Kuronue stated. "I mean, I'm all for those who reform, but this guy still has a bad attitude towards people. If he knows about you, we don't know if he'd hurt you. It's not him, but the fact that he lost his sanity for a time draws a red flag in my book."

Kaiya frowned. She knew Kuronue and Kurama would see it that way. They had reformed, but they had never killed their comrades (though Kurama had blinded one of his). From what Kaiya could see, Vegeta had snapped during a fight on Earth and killed his most trusted friend. But what she also saw now was that he regretted his actions. He was alone, or at least he felt that way.

The she gasped as she remembered something. "But he wouldn't hurt me," she told them. She was met with a few confused stares. "I'm serious, you guys. I know, because I saw him."

"You…you saw him?" Kuwabara asked. "When?"

"Earlier today," Kaiya said with a smile. "At the beach…but I didn't remember him. He just felt familiar, and I waved. He just glared at me and left. If he wanted to hurt me, he would have, especially when he didn't remember who I was."

"You don't know what he was thinking," Yusuke pointed out. "Unless you decided to use your telepathy then, you have no clue if he was plotting you death or not."

"What's wrong with you?" Hiei snapped at Yusuke. "Just because the guy has killed before does NOT mean he would ever hurt his little sister."

"You mean like you?" Yusuke asked Hiei. "Come on, Hiei. It's a different story between you and Yukina." After the words left his mouth, Yusuke instantly regretted it as everyone looked wide-eyed at him. "I mean…Kaiya help."

Kaiya held up her hands. "Oh ho, not a chance. You're on your own on this one."

Hiei hand his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to kill. "You've been driving me crazy all night, detective, but you just crossed a line."

"Wait, shrimp," Kuwabara said in shock. "Your Yukina's long-lost twin brother?"

"Kuwabara, you don't want to be in here for this," Kuronue pointed out, grabbing the human to get him out of the room.

"Hiei, don't destroy the mind scanner," Kurama said with a sigh. "Yusuke, good luck."

"You guys suck," Yusuke whined.

"Yeah, well you're an idiot," Kaiya said narrowing her eyes at him. "You need a good ass kicking right now, anyway?"

And then the door was shut, and Yusuke was left alone with an angry Hiei. Yeah, he had screwed up big time.

* * *

Vegeta was pacing in his room. At least he knew that he wouldn't be having nightmares, or if he did, he probably wouldn't be blowing anymore holes in the walls. Right now all he wanted to do was ring Frieza's neck for causing him to forget someone so important. Kaiya was definitely important, or he wouldn't have risked everything to save her.

The girl on the beach, she resembled the little girl so much. It had to have been her. He was in the same city as his sister, looked her in the eye, and he hadn't known it. And he treated her horribly, growling at her with the intent of murder. And if he had seen her memories, then she had seen his. What if the little girl that placed such blatant trust in him was gone? He couldn't possibly blame her if she wanted nothing to do with him. She already had one evil relative, at least, and he had felt her pain in her memories. He would not want to cause the same problems for her.

"Hey, Vegeta," he heard Bulma call from the other side of his door. The Saiyan halted in his pacing. "Do you want to talk?"

Vegeta scowled. Talk, talk, talk…did all of these Earthlings like to talk? Vegeta went to his door and nearly tore it opened. He was enraged, and it made Bulma jump back. "I do NOT want to talk," he shouted before slamming the door in her face.

Bulma sighed and realized that he needed a little time to process all of this. Honestly, she didn't know how he'd be able to. It wasn't every day you found out you had a sibling, not to mention one that he was so attached to. She was finally starting to see why the Saiyan prince frowned upon attachments. The Frieza guy everyone hated seemed to destroy any ounce of happiness those attachments could bring.

Sighing, Bulma went back to the living room to pack up the mind scanning prototype. She'd have to bring it back to her dad's office the next day. At least she could tell him that it did work, though she still didn't understand the full picture. Maybe he'd have some insight on it tomorrow.

* * *

Kaiya was happy to see that her room had not been incinerated in Hiei's anger. The other guys had left earlier, dragging an injured Yusuke from her room. Honestly, the detective got off easily for the damage he had caused that night. No doubt Kuwabara would haunt Hiei until he tells Yukina. Kaiya was all for him finally telling his sister the truth, but forcing him to do it was not the way.

Hiei came into the room after unleashing some more energy outside. Kaiya turned to face him, smiling sadly at him. He took her hand and the two of them sat down on her bed, both sighing in frustration. He looked at her, expecting to see judgment, but there was nothing but understanding lighting her eyes.

"Well, I guess everyone will get what they want," Hiei muttered. "The fool is demanding I tell her, or he will."

"He's such a moron," Kaiya retorted. Hiei looked shocked at her uncharacteristic insult. "I mean really…does he not get that it's a sore subject for you? I understand that you have your fears of rejection, and where I think that they're misplaced, I would never force you to do anything you weren't comfortable with."

Hiei shook his head. "I don't know how to even start," Hiei growled out.

"Yukina won't be mad at you, you know," Kaiya pointed out. Hiei just stared at her with an irritated blankness. "I'm serious. She's very sweet and caring. Actually, she came over today because she was worried with everyone talking about me having trouble. She wanted to heal me."

"Yukina stopped by?" Hiei asked, his expression softening completely.

Kaiya nodded. "Then she came to class with me and I brought her back to Genkai's. She seemed to have fun when she wasn't trying to snap me out of my memories. You know, she really likes animals."

Hiei smirked. "I know…um, thanks…" he said awkwardly.

"For?" Kaiya asked with a quirked brow.

"For spending time with my sister," Hiei clarified. "It means a lot that you two get along."

Kaiya sucked in a breath of air. Hiei looked to her, confused by her hesitation. "Would you…would you get to know my brother if I decided to go and meet him?" she asked nervously, playing with the tail she had kept hidden.

Hiei hid his shock at seeing her tail, not wanting to startle her further. "That depends…" Hiei stated. "As long as he is good to you, I see no reason not to. In all honesty, I think I'd get along with him."

Kaiya smiled slightly and nodded. "I think so, too. He was very nice to me, at least back then." She looked over to Hiei, determination burning in her eyes. "I want to find him."

"Hn, we won't have to go far," Hiei told her. Kaiya tilted her head in confusion. "We saw…well, heard him at Capsule Corp. where Kuwabara borrowed the mind scanning thing. He's living with the daughter of the man who owns the company."

"Seriously?" Kaiya asked. "Then there's a chance I'll see him again? Not just a passing chance on the beach?"

"Yes," Hiei replied.

Kaiya lied down in her bed with a smile on her face. Closing her eyes, she whispered, "I'd like that."

* * *

The next morning, Bulma brought the mind scanner back to her dad's office. She found him looking at the other mind scanning unit. Finally, her father looked up at her. "Oh, hello Bulma. What can I do for you?"

She placed the unit down on his desk. "I kind of borrowed this last night for Vegeta," Bulma told him. "He was having nightmares associated with blocked memories. The device worked well, though I actually got to see the scenes play out. The wavelength readings disappeared."

"Hm, very strange," the doctor said. "But not surprising."

"What do you mean, dad?" Bulma asked.

"Well, you know the intern I hired?" Dr. Briefs asked without waiting for a response. "Well, a friend of his, some girl had a similar problem and he offered to test the scanner on her last night and he had a similar story. The memories were a scene, seen from the eyes of another individual."

Bulma gasped. "Who?"

"He didn't say," Dr. Briefs continued. "I could tell from the look on his face that there was a lot more he wasn't telling me. When I asked him his theory on what happened, he said he thought he left his stove on at home and left. It was obvious he was just trying to avoid the question. Anyways, I'll have to look into it more, later. At least I know they work."

"Um, sir," a secretary came in as he set the units aside. "There's a girl and an ill-mannered boy here. The guy is demanding to see you, without an appointment."

"Whatever for?" Dr. Briefs asked skeptically.

"I don't even know, sir," the woman replied. "Would you like me to have security handle them?"

"Wait!" Bulma cried out, earning her some very confused stares. "Let them up. I'll meet with them."

Bulma didn't know why, but for some reason, she felt like meeting the two strangers. It could have been because she felt so off since the previous night, learning of the life Vegeta came from. Maybe she was going crazy from all of the things she saw. But maybe these two people would provide answers for her. What did she have to lose?

The secretary brought Kaiya and Hiei into the outer office, and Bulma gasped when she saw the girl. She was the spitting image of her younger self, the only difference was that she was a young woman. "Please, sit down Kaiya," Bulma said.

Kaiya, in turn, gasped. "You…you know my name?" she asked shyly. Hiei narrowed his eyes at Bulma, not sure whether or not to trust her.

Bulma motioned to the two chairs across from her father's office desk. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Vegeta knew he was alone at the compound. The woman had gone to her father's office to return the device that assisted him in getting his memories back. Most likely she would be out all day. Her mother was out shopping for the day as well. Alone, in the quiet compound, fending for himself was how Vegeta liked it. That way he wouldn't be asked any questions, and he would be able to figure out a way to find Kaiya. He probably wouldn't find her at the beach again. Should he even try to find her at all? He still wasn't sure if she'd accept him.

The Saiyan prince walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to rummage for some food. He tensed after reaching into the cold ice box, sensing as if someone else was in the compound and standing right behind him. Vegeta turned around swiftly, completely on guard and ready for any oncoming attacks, but he was met with none. Instead, the prince was shocked to see the same girl from yesterday, his sister, standing across from him. She was staring at him nervously, not with fear, playing with her hair and tail curling around her body.

He dropped his guard, just staring at her with his stern, but blank expression, one of the many expressions she had come to know on that ship. Kaiya walked over to him slowly, tears starting to form in her eyes. Vegeta was waiting to be slapped, or scolded for his past crimes, and since she was his sister, he would allow it this once and watch her leave.

He was surprised again when the young girl wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest as she began to cry. His eyes widened as he realized that not only did she accept him, but she still was willing to get this close to him. That blatant trust that she had in him, the faith that he wouldn't harm her, was still present in the girl's heart. Vegeta couldn't help but place his hands on her arms. He wasn't returning her hug, but it had the same effect as Kaiya started laughing through her tears.

In the other room, Bulma and Hiei were watching the reunion, keeping very quiet except for the fact that Bulma was tearing up and sniffling, wiping her eyes with a tissue. "It's just so great," she whispered to Hiei. "After this long, they're finally reunited." Hiei just nodded, and Bulma looked over to him when he didn't give a verbal response. "Aren't you happy for them?"

Hiei glared at her for the insinuation that he wasn't. "Of course I am. It's just making me rethink some of my own family matters."

"Meaning?" Bulma pressed.

Hiei growled at the inquisitive human. She was even nosier than the detective and the fool. "Let's just say my view on keeping secrets has changed. That is all you will get out of me, human."

If Bulma hadn't met aliens and been to other planets, that remark would have gotten to her, but she knew not to judge someone based on their appearance. Chances were they were a powerful alien with the power to destroy. Now, though, as she looked at Vegeta, she didn't see a man who wanted to destroy. She saw a man that would do anything for his little sister, and that was the one thing she would never forget.

* * *

A/N: Yay, reunited, and an explanation to the craziness. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This officially ends the material for the backstory I already had written. I will try to keep the same length, though, for the duration of the story…meaning it will take longer between updates XD


	5. Chapter 4 - Bonding Moments

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, DBZ, or the characters. Just my OCs

* * *

A week had passed and the whole time, when Kaiya wasn't in class and Vegeta wasn't in training, the two of them got together to get to know each other and train together. Vegeta had a different fighting style than Kaiya was used to. She was starting to realize why she wasn't as strong a fighter as she wanted to be. She was always on the defensive. Vegeta was always on the offensive, but she could tell he still went easy on her.

"Why do you always defend?" Vegeta asked her one day when they were taking a break.

"What do you mean?" Kaiya asked with a tilt of her head.

"You never come after me full force," he told her.

"I could say the same with you for me," Kaiya retorted. Then she sighed and looked away with him. "Did you ever have so much power, that you didn't know if you'd be able to control it all if you went all out." Vegeta just looked to the girl, but said nothing as she continued. "I've destroyed things, accidentally mind you, before I got control of certain abilities, and even now…I still can't control them all. With all the training and meditation, I'm still a danger to me and everyone around me." She looked back over to Vegeta, her expression seemed pensive. "I don't fight offensively because I can do enough damage just by defending myself. That's enough."

Vegeta had never thought that way before in his life. When your entire world is kill or be killed, holding back is not an option. Kaiya's world was not that much different from his, and since there worlds weren't that different it only meant one thing.

Kaiya was in danger.

Vegeta hated thinking the worst regarding the girl, but it was the truth. Her fear to fight would be a hindrance in her training. It was something he would have to shake from her. First, though, he would need to talk with those who have trained her before. The only two people he knew were her boyfriend, Hiei, and a woman named Genkai. If he met the woman, he'd most likely have to meet many more people, and part of him did not want to do that.

But what was he willing to put up with so that his sister could be safe? He wouldn't always be around, especially when he had always been planning on leaving Earth at some point. Even if that idea was starting to change, he knew he would still need to travel into space at some point in his life. He couldn't exactly take her away from her life on Earth, and he wouldn't even consider it with her training. No, he would need to make sure she could protect herself in the future. He needed to talk to her trainers. They only question was how to get in touch with them.

"Hey Vegeta?" Vegeta turned his head slightly to acknowledge his sister. "My friends are having a party at our mentor, Genkai's, tonight." She picked up her tail and started twirling it in her fingers, a nervous habit the girl seemed to pick up. "I was wondering, I mean if you weren't too busy, would you like to come?"

Vegeta thought about it for a moment, not fully understanding what a "party" was. He had been to banquets aboard Frieza's ship, and yet he had heard Bulma refer to the same type of event as a party once or twice, but Kaiya couldn't have been talking about a formal get together. At least, he didn't think she was.

At his silence, Kaiya began to get nervous again and looked away. "I mean, you don't have to come if you don't want to. It just would be nice to introduce you to my friends."

"I'll go," Vegeta responded, not wanting the girl to feel bad about asking.

She looked over to him questioningly. "You will?" He could see the hope in her eyes, and he did not want to crush it.

"Of course," Vegeta replied, looking into the water of the pond in the woman's backyard. Before he knew it, he was knocked down by Kaiya. He had no idea why she just decided to randomly attack him like that, but after he fell over, he realized she was just giving him a hug. Her eyes were closed and she had a smile on her face.

"Thank you, Geta," she whispered as Vegeta placed one hand on her back to steady her. Yes, things were stranger now that he had a sister to look after.

* * *

Bulma watched the scene from the kitchen, smiling at the fact that Vegeta was finally loosening up and showing someone that he cared about them. It was strange seeing the once murderous Saiyan prince acting so gentle. Actually, it was even stranger that he wasn't as aggressive towards her too. Ever since she had drugged him and helped unlock his memories, he was strangely kind towards her, or as close to kind as Vegeta would get. He still demanded training equipment and food, leaving no room for argument, but he wouldn't fight her in anything but sport now. It was almost as if he was thankful to her, but she wouldn't point that out.

Kaiya seemed very nice to Bulma. It was hard to believe that there was another Saiyan like Goku with a genuine mirth and naivety despite the crazy things she had seen. The only difference from Goku was that she seemed to have a fear or many things, irrational things, and was not as inclined to fight unless need be. Bulma was surprised that Vegeta was so patient with her.

There was something about this whole thing, though, that bothered Bulma. She had remembered Vegeta constantly saying that he was here for two purposes: to train and to eventually kill Goku before returning to space. With Kaiya being here, was that still his plan? Bulma had spoken with Kaiya a handful of times, and Kaiya really wanted to meet Goku. Not only that, but the girl, despite accepting that her brother had killed for a career, was against killing period. Could Vegeta, knowing this, still go through with his plans, and if he did, how would his sister react to that?

Bulma didn't notice that another entered her home. She heard someone clear their throat and nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned around to see Hiei standing there with his arms crossed. She nearly laughed at how similar the demon's expression was to Vegeta's on a good day. "Oh, hello Hiei," Bulma greeted. "Good to see you again."

"Hn," Hiei responded. "I'm here to pick up Kaiya. We have somewhere to be."

"Um, okay," Bulma replied. "They're outside right now." She pointed out the window. Hiei narrowed his eyes at her. "What's wrong?"

"Do you make it a habit of watching others without their knowledge?" Hiei asked her, his glare not leaving his face.

Bulma was about to snap at the boy, but then she realized his fists were clenched, and looking past the glare, she could see worry. The fire demon seemed to be incredibly protective of his girlfriend.

Bulma smiled and decided to answer him. "It's just nice watching how he interacts with her," she explained. "I don't have any siblings, and the two of them had no idea about each other. The bond they have…it's like nothing I've ever seen."

"If I were you, I would not let them know you have been watching," Hiei offered. "Kaiya would not care. Vegeta, on the other hand, would not be happy being spied on."

Hiei didn't give her a chance to answer before he starting walking out into the yard. Both Kaiya and Vegeta heard his footsteps on turned to face him. Kaiya smiled, having sensed it was him, but Vegeta looked more guarded. Hiei noticed so he steered clear of him and went over to Kaiya, offering her his hand.

"We need to start heading to Genkai's," he said softly. "You ready to go?"

"Uh huh," Kaiya said like an excited child, accepting his outstretched hand. "And guess what. Vegeta said he'd come with us. Isn't that great?"

Hiei looked over to Vegeta who was glaring daggers at him. Hiei just forced a smirk for Kaiya's sake and said, "Yes. Everyone will be happy to officially meet him."

"Why are you talking about me as if I weren't here?" Vegeta scoffed. "You need to learn to respect the Prince of All Saiyans."

Hiei just looked at Vegeta blankly. "I wasn't ignoring you," Hiei told him. "I was just having a conversation with your sister. She's been talking about inviting you all week."

Vegeta just looked shock as he looked at his sister who was beaming at him. He inwardly cringed, not being used to being adored by anyone. Even with his memories of Kaiya as a child, she still had this light in her eyes that couldn't be extinguished when she looked at him. She knew his past, his crimes, and the horrors he wrought on the universe. Vegeta expected rejection, but was met with acceptance. Even when she accepted him, he expected her to be wary of him, but she requested to spend time with him, talking or training. She saw the way he trained, and he expected her to fear him, but she just tried harder to keep up with him. He had never had someone attempt to get to know him despite his transgressions, and allow themselves to care for him wholeheartedly. And now she wanted him to meet her friends and include him in her life even more, to be a part of it. He didn't feel like he had deserved it or earned that right.

He was about to take back his acceptance of her invitation when she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on," Kaiya chimed. "Let's go! It's a pretty long drive, and I do NOT like being in the car for long."

Vegeta sweat-dropped, also not liking small, confined spaces from what Frieza had done to him. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he reluctantly followed Kaiya and Hiei to her car. He saw that it was some small SUV as the woman would have called it. It was more enclosed that he would have hoped.

"Hiei, you don't mind sitting in the back, right?" Kaiya asked, knowing her brother had an issue with claustrophobia like her.

Hiei shrugged. "I don't mind. Just as long as you don't play the dolphin noises again."

"Deal," Kaiya said with a smirk, "but then that means it's a Bon Jovi car ride."

"Oh God," Hiei muttered under his breath, though he had a smile on his face. Vegeta caught it, but didn't understand what either of them was talking about.

Hiei got into the back of the car and lounged like he normally did in trees and windowsills. Vegeta just rolled his eyes at the boy. He didn't know how he felt about his sister's boyfriend. He didn't really know anything about him. In his mind, he was just some guy unworthy of his sister's affections, but he would never know until he swallowed his pride and would speak to him about anything. First and foremost, he needed to understand Kaiya's training. Then he could probably train her more effectively.

"Vegeta?" he heard Kaiya call him from the driver's seat. She had put the windows of the car down and was staring at him with worry in her green eyes. "You okay?"

Vegeta mentally groaned, not used to this kind of attention. "I'm fine. You need to stop asking me that, kid."

Kaiya froze and narrowed her eyes at Vegeta. "What did you call me?" she asked in irritation.

Vegeta smirked at the girl. He hadn't really ever seen her irritated, and he was actually quite amused by her reaction. "You heard me, kid."

Hiei opened one of his eyes and closed it again. "You might not want to piss a fire demon off before she drives. She's had problems with road rage and lighting cars on fire."

Kaiya's angered expression immediately turned to one of embarrassment. "That was ONE time, and it was before I learned to control my abilities…so not fair."

Hiei just chuckled and Vegeta glared at him. He thought it was disrespectful for Hiei to say anything about Kaiya. But his reaction changed when Kaiya said, "That's okay. I'll just start out with your least favorite Bon Jovi song."

Hiei's eyes shot open and he sat up just as quickly. "You wouldn't," he growled.

"Living on a Prayer, coming up," Kaiya said fooling around with her iPod.

Hiei groaned and fell back onto the seat. "Just kill me now."

Vegeta quirked his brow as he got into the vehicle, looking around it curiously. Then out of nowhere, music started blasting. Vegeta cringed at the volume and noticed Hiei through the mirror doing the same thing. But when Kaiya started singing along to the music with a smile on her face, Hiei's face softened and he seemed to focus just on her voice. Vegeta looked between the two, utterly confused by the effect they seemed to have on one another. It made no sense to him at all, but that was probably because he had never had any type of relationships in the past. Vegeta looked back to Kaiya once he decided to drop his wonderings on her relationship for now, and realized that he too enjoyed seeing her so free. Then something else hit him.

"Why are the windows opened?" he asked her. Every time he had been in an Earthling vehicle or building, windows were always closed. Sometimes it made him feel trapped.

"I like how the wind feels," Kaiya told him. "Also, when they're closed I feel kind of trapped. I don't like feeling trapped."

Vegeta definitely remembered that. He would never forget her panicked expression from when she realized she was in the regeneration tank. That look of fear would always haunt him.

"Right," he muttered before looking out the window, studying the various streets and buildings before they left the city and headed towards the wilderness.

* * *

"Hey, what the heck took you guys so long?" a black-haired kid Kaiya introduced as Yusuke said as a greeting. Vegeta just narrowed his eyes at the boy. Yusuke seemed to be oblivious to his silent threat. "Kaiya, I haven't seen you since the mind scanning night thing. How've you been?"

Kaiya just laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yusuke, you're an idiot," she teased.

"Hey, I resent that," he retorted feigning hurt. Kaiya just laughed at his antics, and Vegeta was in shock by how laid back the girl seemed with her friends. "And hey, what happened to miss stick-up-her-"

"Yusuke!" another girl yelled. "Don't talk to her that way."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Keiko. You know she's as bad as you when it comes to school work, if not worse."

"Get over it," Kaiya mumbled wryly before seeing two others. "Lexi, Maya, I didn't know you two were coming."

"Why wouldn't we be, sis?" Mayonaka asked. Vegeta was shocked. Kaiya had a twin sister, though Vegeta had no relation to her. It made Vegeta wonder why Kaiya was targeted and not her sister. Nothing made sense about the situation anyway, so he shouldn't even be surprised by another strange action.

"Hey Kuronue told me what happened," Alexia said walking up to Kaiya. "I'm really, really sorry about Jiro and what he did, and then what you had to go through…just wow, Kaiya. Now I understand why you seemed to develop a ton of fears after your disappearance, and why you couldn't remember any of it."

"Who knew there were so many freaks out there," Mayonaka continued. "And our father just had to be one of them."

"Please, Maya…let's not even talk about it," Kaiya pleaded. "It's supposed to be a party. We are supposed to be relaxing and celebrating. Vegeta." She looked over to her brother with big eyes, yet again, and he found himself obliging to her silent request. He walked over to her, keeping a blank expression as he walked up to the two girls. "Guys, this is Vegeta. He's my brother."

"Yeah, Kuronue mentioned that too," Alexia stated. Mayonaka and Kaiya both smirked at her. "What?"

"For a spy that hates thieves and had issues with Kuronue, you seem to spend a lot of time with him," Mayonaka lightly teased.

Alexia blushed and smacked both Kaiya's and Mayonaka's shoulders. Vegeta didn't like his sister being struck, but when the girl just laughed along with her twin, he didn't see Alexia as a threat.

"Hiei!" Everyone went silent when they heard Kuwabara call the fire demon's name.

"Ugh, what does he want, now?" Hiei muttered.

"He's probably about to threaten you into tell Yukina the truth again," Alexia stated.

Hiei's eyes widened and he glared over at the girl. "How the hell do you know about that?" he asked.

"It's a very long story, Hiei," Alexia explained. "I wasn't told by anyone exactly. I kind of just overheard Kurama and Kuronue discussing it."

"Where are they, by the way?" Kaiya asked, looking around.

"Tending Genkai's garden," Mayonaka replied. "She asked Kurama to, and Kuronue volunteered to help him out."

"Makes sense," Kaiya replied before Yusuke pulled her away to play a video game.

"What are they doing?" Vegeta asked Hiei, not understanding why the girl was playing with some type of strange controller.

"It's a game," Hiei answered. "It's a fighting game. Humans use it as a form of entertainment."

"You suck at this game, Kaiya," Yusuke taunted playfully. Vegeta looked over and glared at the boy was still oblivious to it, or at least didn't react. He shouldn't talk to the Princess of Saiyans like that especially when it came to fighting. Growling under his breath, Kaiya spoke up.

"Oh shut up, Yusuke," Kaiya laughed. "You know I get no practice during the semester. If I would be able to play more, I'd beat you."

"Oh really?" Yusuke countered. "Because I think Kuwabara is a better challenge than you are."

Kaiya paused the game and blinked over at Yusuke. Vegeta was waiting to see her destroy the disrespectful boy, though part of him knew she would never do that.

"Them's fightin' words," Alexia said in a joking manner.

"Yes, I did hear a challenge in there," Kaiya agreed. "Yusuke, are you challenging me?"

"You bet your ass I am," the spirit detective replied, still causing Vegeta's blood to boil.

"Okay, new fight," Kaiya said. "I'm using a different character."

"Alright," Yusuke said. "Best two out of three."

The two went back to playing the game, and even though Kaiya put up a decent fight, she still lost. "Good game," Yusuke said. "See, even though you're out of practice, you still have some good moves."

Kaiya nodded. "At least if I were to go down, I went down fighting."

Vegeta's eyes widened. This fight, he insults, it was a way to push Kaiya to do better. Maybe that as how they all trained?

After hearing Kuwabara call for him again, Hiei growled and said, "Let Kaiya know I went to deal with an annoyance." With that, Hiei left the room. At that point another girl entered the room.

"Yukina!" Kaiya exclaimed, drawing Vegeta's attention back to her. He saw his sister hugging some young-looking girl.

"Hello, Kaiya," the girl greeted warmly, though the room did drop a few degrees as she entered. "Are you feeling any better from last week? I was really worried when you zoned out in your class."

"Yes, I'm much better," Kaiya assured her, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders. "I figured out what was wrong with me, but I'll tell everyone when Botan gets here and the boys come back inside." She looked around the room and asked, "Where's Hiei?"

Vegeta just scoffed at the message he was given. "The boy said he had to take care of something. I don't know what."

Yukina looked over to Vegeta and then back to Kaiya. "Who is that?" she asked the girl innocently. It almost made Vegeta's cold heart melt. This girl seemed to act like Kaiya when she was a child, that blatant trust and kindness, that warm voice with innocent undertones despite what she had seen. Vegeta was not one to get lost in memories of joy, but right now he was fighting to keep the smile off his face.

Just then, Hiei and another boy much taller than him came into the room. The redhead's face went from angered to cheerful the instant he laid eyes on the blue-haired girl. "Yukina!" he exclaimed in a dramatic fashion before running over to her and fawning over her with so much attention. The young girl smiled and giggled at the boy's actions, and Vegeta noticed the look of sheer displeasure on Hiei's face. It was the same look that Vegeta had given to the fire demon earlier. Hiei did not deem that boy worthy to be with the girl, but Vegeta had no idea why Hiei should be concerned when he was dating his sister.

He noticed how concerned Kaiya looked and was worried that maybe she too was nervous about Hiei's attention to the girl. She walked over to the fire demon and pulled him out of the room to talk. Vegeta decided to follow, worried about his sister and her supposed boyfriend.

* * *

"Well, what did you tell Kuwabara?" she asked Hiei with all the concern.

"I told him he's free to 'date' her, or whatever you humans like to say, provided he allows me to tell her in my own time," Hiei growled. He hated giving his permission like that, especially to someone so weak in his eyes. He felt his sister deserved better, but that would be for her to decide.

"Hiei, when are you going to tell Yukina he truth?" Kaiya asked. Vegeta was listening in and was growing increasingly curious by this whole thing.

Hiei sighed. "I don't know, Kaiya, I just don't know," he told her while shaking his head in frustration. "I can't bring myself to tell her. She'll hate me for keeping it from her all this time. I told her I'd find her brother…lied to her face. If I told her that I was her brother now…she'd never forgive me."

Vegeta's eyes widened when he heard the confession. No wonder Hiei was glaring at the redhead like he had been at him earlier. It seemed to Vegeta that he and Hiei had more in common than he thought.

"Okay, first off, I'm serious when I keep telling you that Yukina wouldn't hate you," she chided. "She understands, especially because of how your people treated you. Do you honestly think she'll care about your past? You did what you had to in order to survive. She won't hold it against you."

"Just because you don't hold anything against Vegeta, it doesn't mean Yukina won't hate me forever," he replied, sitting against the wall and sliding down to the ground. Kaiya followed suit and put her hand on his.

"Believe me when I say this," Kaiya started. "Yukina will accept you, no matter what. The bond between a brother and sister is so special. Besides, the girl is incapable of hate. You know this. If anything, I could only imagine her crying tears of joy the moment you tell her."

"I'd rather her not cry at all," Hiei grumbled. "I hate that she was kidnapped for her tears."

"Yes, and you all saved her," Kaiya reminded her. "You've always been there for her, and you've sacrificed so much to keep her safe. I would tell her. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be for you to even consider it."

Hiei sighed again and leaned against Kaiya as some form of strange hug. Kaiya smiled and put her arms around him. Vegeta watched the scene unfold. Maybe he was wrong about Hiei from his earlier behavior. If anything, the boy acted as prideful and arrogant as he did to cover up the hurt or regret he felt from his past. Hiei was doing the same thing. Then he heard Hiei say something that caused him to leave the room.

"But I'm not worthy of her," Hiei whispered. "I'm barely worthy of you."

Vegeta couldn't take it anymore. He and Hiei were too similar and the fire demon was confirming his beliefs about his worth towards his own sister. He couldn't bring himself to hear what his sister would have said to that. He did not want her view on him to change, even if he felt he didn't deserve it.

* * *

After a few minutes, Hiei and Kaiya came back into the room, both ignoring and enduring perverted comments from Yusuke about their whereabouts. Kaiya rolled her eyes at the black-haired detective and took a seat next to Mayonaka. Hiei walked up to Yukina and both the ice-maiden and Kuwabara were staring at him in confusion.

"Yukina, I need to talk to you," Hiei stated, leaving no room for argument. Yukina smiled at him and nodded, following him outside.

When they were out of earshot, Kurama and Kuronue came back inside both with confused expressions. They looked to Kaiya who was just smiling brightly. In fact everyone, including Vegeta, looked to her.

"Kaiya…" Kuwabara started cautiously. "What exactly did you say to him?"

Kaiya just looked at him. "Nothing you need to worry about," she assured him. Out of nowhere, they heard a shout of joy and looked outside to see Yukina hugging Hiei after she tackled him to the ground. "Well, it looks like Yukina finally has her brother."

An old woman walked up next to Vegeta. He looked to her and realized that the woman was the old psychic who trained his sister.

"Your sister is an amazing person," Genkai told him. "Especially if she's able to talk some sense into that thickheaded fire demon. You needed to speak with me?"

"How did you-?" Vegeta began to ask before the woman held up her hand to stop him.

"I am not an idiot," she told him. "I've been around a long time, and I can already tell from what I've heard from the others that you are not the type of person to enjoy these kinds of parties. Honestly, the only reason I put up with them is because usually they end up sparring and it's a good way for them to stay on their game in case any new missions come up from them."

"Hn, so they're really spies?" Vegeta asked.

"Not really," Genkai told him. "Just Kaiya and Alexia were trained when they were children. I have no idea how they attained those skills. You want to know what I've taught Kaiya, right?"

Vegeta chuckled. "You're a perceptive human," Vegeta taunted. "But yes, I need to know the lengths of her training so I know where to go from there."

"You wasted a trip," Genkai told him, slightly angering Vegeta. "I can't tell you how to train her to fight. I only taught her how to control her spirit energy. That was all she needed to know at the time. The only one who has taught her to fight is Hiei, and even he will not be able to tell you how they train. What I can tell you is that Kaiya does not enjoy fighting. She feels comfortable fighting with Hiei because they can communicate through their movements. That's how they developed their trust."

"That will do her no good in the sense of true battling," Vegeta scoffed.

"That is true," Genkai said. "She has been put through fights she is not ready for as of late, but in her defense, she fights well considering that most of those she has fought are her relatives, or have threatened her family. She will not fight back under those circumstances."

"Why?" Vegeta asked the psychic in alarm. "Did her father not try to kill her?"

"According to the dimwit," she said pointing to Yusuke, "she was able to fight well against anyone that wasn't her family. Mayonaka fought her a long time ago, and she fought back, but both ended up in the hospital, still alive obviously. Her father attacked her with a sneak attack. Hiei was the one that took him out after Kaiya's attack didn't kill him. She can fight and defend, but she cannot bring herself to kill, nor fight to the death with anyone. Not alone."

"She will not always have protection," Vegeta stated. "She will need to learn." He looked over to Genkai who was glaring at him. "What, Earthling?" he growled.

"Even though she has graduated past my training, I still care for her wellbeing," Genkai replied in anger. "I have seen others like you, those who killed for a living. Believe me; I slayed demons for a living. You cannot force her to be a killer. If you train her to fight more effectively, you better be damn sure not to push her past her comfort zone. I may be old, but if I hear anything about her training being too aggressive, I WILL be able to kick your sorry ass without even breaking a sweat."

Before Vegeta could shout at the woman for her disrespect, Kaiya walked over to them, and he remained silent. "Hello, Master Genkai," she said with a polite bow. "It's been awhile." Vegeta mentally slapped himself for allowing himself to be silenced. His sister seemed to be some kind of tension breaker.

"Yes, it has," Genkai said with a fond smile. "How has school been?"

"Great!" Kaiya exclaimed. "Just about made straight A's this semester, and I've even been keeping up with my training. Hiei didn't let me slack, and lately I've been training with Vegeta."

Vegeta froze when Kaiya lightly touched his shoulder. The way she talked about him and introduced him to others was so unusual to him. For the moment, the old lady's threat disappeared from his mind.

"So, is Botan coming?" Kaiya asked. "If not, I'd really like to formally introduce Vegeta to everyone."

"No, it seems that Koenma has her running around for something," Genkai explained.

"Oh dear God," Kaiya grimaced. "Don't tell me there's another mission heading our way. I…I still haven't dealt with everything from when we took on all those demon hunters."

"I know, child," Genkai said softly, understanding that Kaiya had definitely gone through more than the others on that mission. "And no, nothing like that that I know of. Just random Spirit World errands."

"Well, okay," Kaiya said with a smile. She turned to Vegeta and tugged on his hand. "Come on, let's go."

Vegeta was reluctant, but he stood up and walked over to her group of friends, Yukina and Hiei already interacting with the rest of the group. "Okay," Kaiya started, "most of you guys already know or know of what happened when I was nine." Yukina looked a little confused, but Hiei just squeezed her shoulder and told her he'd tell her later. "Anyway, because of some recent events, I found out that I'm a Saiyan, pretty much an alien which we all know Suki would love." Vegeta didn't understand why everyone was laughing at that. "I also found out that I have an older brother." Kaiya smiled when she saw Yukina's excited expression. "Everyone, this is my older brother, Vegeta."

"And now that introductions are officially out of the way," Yusuke said grinning like an idiot, "we can finally tell you the real reason for this party."

Vegeta quirked his eyebrow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, it was Kaiya's idea," Kuwabara stated. "It's kind of like a 'Welcome to Earth' party."

Vegeta was shocked and looked over to Kaiya who just nodded at him. No one had ever done anything like this for him. Any "parties" he had been to in the past were strictly political. This party was a welcoming, a type of entertainment for everyone, a means to get to know one another, and she had done it for him. On a planet where he wanted no attachments or connections, he was now given no choice. He now had a sister, and she was trying to get him to become friends with her friends. She wanted him to belong to their group. That was something he did not want.

"I need to go," Vegeta stated. Before anyone could say anything, Vegeta disappeared from the room. They heard a smashing sound, meaning Vegeta had decided to fly out of Genkai's compound destruction style.

All the guys sighed and looked at Kaiya who looked slightly hurt, still staring at the spot Vegeta had been standing in. "Kaiya?" Mayonaka tried. "You okay?"

Kaiya regained her senses and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. Anyway, let's eat. I'm very hungry."

"Sure, Kaiya," Yusuke said.

* * *

Vegeta stormed into the compound and Bulma could only assume that something happened with his sister. She could not, for the life of her, figure out what it was as Kaiya seemed like a nice and accepting girl. The young Saiyan/demon hybrid seemed to take Vegeta as he was, not caring about his past transgressions. "Hey Vegeta," Bulma greeted as he began to stomp past her. "How was your day with Kaiya?"

Vegeta, not in the mood to deal with anymore Earthlings and their strange habits or desire to talk, ignored her and went upstairs to his room. When Bulma heard his door slam shut, she sighed. "Well, I guess it went well," she muttered sarcastically before returning to her magazine.


	6. Chapter 5 - Mutual Understanding

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, DBZ, or the characters. Just my OCs

Well, last time, Kaiya invited Vegeta to a party that happened to be his own welcoming party. He didn't know how to react to the kindness and abruptly left, leaving Kaiya to feel a sense of rejection. And now we continue…

* * *

Later that week, Kaiya still wasn't feeling any better about how Vegeta left his party like that. She wasn't mad at him, but she was definitely made at herself. She shouldn't have just dropped him in the middle of it with a bunch of strangers he didn't know. Kaiya just wanted him to feel included, welcomed, and wanted for once. But, despite all of her good intentions, she had somehow hurt her brother and the guilt was eating her alive.

"You need to get out of here," Hiei spoke up from behind her. He was standing in the doorway of her room.

Kaiya looked over to him while sitting at her desk with sad eyes. Hiei flinched a bit, hating seeing Kaiya in any type of distress, especially sadness. Because of his mother's and sister's ability, he hated when women cried, whether their tears would become jewels or not. Besides, she didn't need to waste her tears on her brother, especially if he had rejected her which Hiei seriously doubted. "Look," he sighed, "Vegeta isn't mad at you, nor did you hurt him." He was speaking from experience now. "It is not an easy transition going from being a hated killer to being loved by a family member or friend. At first, it is hard to accept, especially when he had accepted it before and had it torn away by some freak who thrives on the pain of others. If anything, he feels guilty, and feels he doesn't deserve you."

Kaiya was shocked. Though she knew that was how Hiei had felt in his life, she never expected Vegeta to feel that way too. Thankfully she had Hiei here to set her straight. If she had gone another day without talking to Vegeta, he might have thought that she was rejecting him too. "I need to go," she said in a hurry. "I'm way late for training today. You can stay here, by the way. I'm ordering wings later."

Hiei smirked as his girlfriend sped out of her room and slammed the door to her house shut. He sat down on her bed, lying back. He had already decided to take her up on her offer, but for now, he was going to rest. Trees could only be so comfortable, so he let himself drown in the feeling of having access to an actual bed.

* * *

Bulma was getting worried about Vegeta. He had been short tempered ever since the day he had come back from spending time with his sister. He had even started locking himself in his room or the GR, avoiding contact with anyone, unless he was bored. When he was bored, he would go into the indoor garden and antagonize the Namekians. Bulma couldn't believe he was going out of his way to make them fear him again. He had made such progress since Kaiya showed up.

When she had seen his memories, she felt that Kaiya would be good for him. The girl would accept him, good and bad, and the heiress thought that he would learn to forgive himself too. But even though she realized that it would take time, she felt like he was distancing himself from the girl. Then something struck her. She hadn't seen Vegeta's memories, only Kaiya's, and he had been through so much since then. He too had seen Kaiya's memories, but he wouldn't know how to react to them. Bulma placed her head in her hands, shaking her head in sadness and frustration. Part of her was glad that she hadn't met Frieza in her life. It seemed like the Ice-jin tyrant lived for the "thrill" of causing others pain. That was something an Earthling like Bulma would never understand.

A knock on the front door brought her out of her thoughts. No one in the house was expecting anyone, nor were the workers permitted to come to the house for anything, at least until the Namekians were to leave. Her family did not want anyone asking questions, nor did they want anyone to reveal the aliens to other scientists. A little unsure about whoever this random visitor was, Bulma reluctantly got up from her spot on the couch to answer the door.

She was glad she did. On the other side of the door stood Vegeta's little sister, nervously twirling her tail. "Um, hi," she said meekly, refusing to make eye contact with Bulma. The older woman could tell that the girl felt guilty about something. "V-Vegeta wasn't out in the GR," she stated. "I was hoping I could talk to him. We really…we really need to talk."

Bulma just smiled at her and step away from the door. "Come on in, Kaiya," she said warmly. "You're always welcome here."

"Um, thank you," Kaiya replied in a shyness that reminded Bulma about the day she had asked Vegeta to come and stay with her family. He had been so quiet and refused to make eye contact with her the entire way there. He had felt out of place for a long time until he set foot on the spaceship.

Kaiya was no different from her brother, looking around the place, feeling slightly misplaced. Bulma smiled as she led the girl to the kitchen. Kaiya's quirked eyebrow and confusion reminded her so much of Vegeta. "Take a seat," Bulma instructed the girl. "I was just about to dig into the cookies my mother made this morning. You should try them."

Kaiya visibly relaxed, even her tail giving her calm away. Bulma silently wondered if she would understand Vegeta more if he still had his tail. "Um, thanks, Miss Bulma."

Bulma bit back a laugh and said, "Hey now, don't you start with that. You're Vegeta's sister, and if he isn't formal with me, you definitely don't have to be."

"Oh," Kaiya responded. "Okay then…Bulma?"

"Much better," the heiress replied, putting a dozen cookies on her plate and placing it in front of Kaiya. Kaiya stared at the cookies with wide eyes. "What's wrong? Do you not like chocolate chip?"

"It's not that," Kaiya said as if in awe. "I have to eat all of those cookies?" Bulma's jaw nearly dropped. She had never heard a Saiyan even think about turning down food. "I mean…I don't want to impose or anything. This had to have made it so that you don't get many."

"Um, Kaiya, sweetie," Bulma said cautiously, "do you know how much Saiyans eat? My mother took into account that Vegeta lives here now, and so she made a couple hundred cookies in the last few days. This is just a start for you, isn't it?"

Kaiya's eyes widened more, if that were even possible, before looking back at the cookies. She had never eaten that many cookies in her life. Well, she had once when she was little, but her mother had scolded her for it. Kaiya always ate more than she should, in her opinion. Her family was predominantly Italian, so everyone ate a lot. She just assumed she was growing at the time, and would ignore her hunger. "I…didn't know," she admitted. "Does that mean I need to start eating more?"

"Yes."

Both Kaiya and Bulma jumped when they heard Vegeta's voice. They saw him standing in the kitchen doorway. Bulma looked slightly worried, but Kaiya managed to smile. "Hey, Vegeta," she greeted warmly.

Vegeta was taken aback. He thought for sure that Kaiya was mad at him, and that's why she had missed their last three training sessions. But now she was here, and Vegeta was once again confused by her actions. He regained his composure, clearing his throat, and continued to berate her about her eating habits. "A Saiyan requires a great deal of food to sustain their energy. If not, they do not fight as efficiently and they could drain their energy pools a lot faster than others."

"So that's why I get tired all the time!" Kaiya exclaimed while standing up. She noticed all eyes being on her and nervously sat back down. "I mean, it explains a lot, especially with my fighting. I get tired a lot quicker when I use my more potent attacks. I just assumed it was too hard for me to sustain flames. Had no idea it had to deal with my eating habits." Then her eyes widened in shock. "Oh wow, and all I had yesterday was a small salad for lunch and a burger for dinner."

Bulma was still taking in this new topic of discussion. She had never met a Saiyan who would turn down food. She couldn't even imagine how this girl was still moving around or managed to train with Vegeta. "Couldn't you tell when you were hungry?" she asked.

"I…" Kaiya started nervously. "Well, I eat snacks during the day when I can, but when I have classes, I rarely eat anything. Like I said, I skipped breakfast yesterday. I got up a little later than I intended."

Bulma nodded in understanding, remembering her college career. "Okay, well here's the thing, you need to eat way more than what you do eat in a day…like a hundred times more."

"But how can I cook all of that?" Kaiya asked in alarm. "I'm barely able to find time to cook now, let alone even having the money to get the few groceries I do get."

"Well, for one," Bulma said with a smile before Vegeta could say anything. She wanted him to know there were other options for Kaiya before he said whatever he was going to say. "You can come here for meals at times, and I'm sure my dad would be willing to give you a food allowance."

"What?" Kaiya almost shouted. "No, I couldn't ask you for that."

"You're not asking; I'm offering."

"But why?" Kaiya asked, her stress levels increasing. Vegeta could hear the anxiety in her voice, and he too was confused by it. "Why would you do this for me? You don't even know me." Vegeta relaxed, understanding just how the girl felt.

"Well, because you're a friend now," Bulma said, "and it's very hard to keep a Saiyan fed. We have it easier here because of the company, and Chi Chi, my best friend's wife, is technically royalty, so she's able to feed her husband and son. And it won't even make a dent in the money we have if you were to buy yourself extra food. As for the cooking, I've been working on cooking bots. My mother hates when I use them, so if you use them, it'll be fine."

"I…I don't know what to say," Kaiya said in a daze. "Th-thank you."

"Think nothing of it," Bulma said waving the girl off. "And you don't have to say anything. Anyways, let me go get the bots packed up in a capsule and have my father set up the credit card. I'll have it ready before you leave. I'll catch you guys later."

Bulma left both a stunned Kaiya and silent Vegeta in the kitchen. The younger Saiyan looked over to Vegeta and decided to break the silence. "Is she always like this…I mean with strangers?"

"Yes," Vegeta told her while remembering Bulma's hospitality towards him. "It's best to just agree to it or she'll never shut up."

"Oh, I see," Kaiya replied. Then she started to feel guilty again. "Um, Vegeta?"

Vegeta forced back a sigh. "What?" he grumbled out.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," Kaiya said in sadness, "by staying away I mean. I thought you were mad at me and didn't want to see me, so I stayed away in case I would only hurt you more."

Vegeta felt the heart he had forgotten he had clench in his chest. His little sister had spent days away from him, for his sake? How could anyone disregard their own happiness and concerns for another person?

Picking up on the thought with her telepathy, Kaiya smiled. "Because silly, you are one of my concerns. You're my brother, and I love you, so that means I worry about how you feel too."

"Why?" Vegeta questioned, his voice nearly cracking. "I've done nothing to earn that."

"What are you talking about?" Kaiya asked lightheartedly. "You're here for me. That's all that matters to me. Look, I'm not a stranger to feeling abandoned or lost, so when someone is there for me, it speaks more volumes than you could ever know. You were the one who suggested we train together, and went out of you way to spend time with me. When I showed up, you could have said that you didn't want me here. You could have told me that you didn't want me as your sister. I mean, it's been more than a decade since we met."

"Why would I say a thing like that?" Vegeta asked. He couldn't believe that she would think THAT low of him. Did she really see him to be that cruel?

"Well, my father…my human father, Jiro…he didn't want me," Kaiya said softly, her tail stiffening up again. "He made it perfectly clear that he didn't want me as a daughter, so I wouldn't have been shocked if you hadn't…"

She didn't need to finish her statement. Vegeta knew what she was going to say. Not only had her human father betrayed her, but their father betrayed her as well. He was the one who sent his sister away causing her to be captured and killed by Frieza's men. It was Kaiya's father's betrayal that placed her in this position.

"Listen, kid," Vegeta spoke up, "I am only going to say this once, so pay attention. Even if I were as cruel as your father, which I am not, I would never say to a child that they were unwanted, whether or not it was the truth. A real man would take responsibility and care for their child instead of gambling with their life for a false agreement of protection and freedom. Our father did the exact same thing with me, and that is how I ended up on the ship before Frieza destroyed our planet along with the majority of our race.

"And so, all I can say is I am most certainly not like yours or our father. Even if this whole thing was unexpected and I never saw myself wanting a sibling, you are here, and I want to know you and train you for times where I may not be here. I will not stay away forever if I go. I just cannot stay on one planet for long. If I ever do leave, it is not because of you, so do NOT lock yourself away because you feel guilty about upsetting me. I was not upset with you. Understand?"

Kaiya didn't respond; she only stared at Vegeta with a blank expression. He assumed the girl was letting everything sink in, but was completely flabbergasted when she asked, "Did you seriously just call me a kid?"

Vegeta looked completely offended. "Is that ALL you got out of that?" he growled slightly.

"No, I heard you, and we'll get to that, but you called me a kid!" Kaiya shrieked. "I am NOT a kid! Don't call me that!"

Vegeta smirked, his speech almost but forgotten, as he saw a side to Kaiya he hadn't seen before. She was completely angry, but it was because of a remark he made. "What are you going to do about it, _kid_?"

Kaiya energy spiked, but only because she was debating whether or not to ignore Vegeta's teasing or to punch him in the face. She was not one to fight unless she needed to, but part of her was crying out to start a fight in the middle of a stranger's kitchen.

"Go ahead," Vegeta instructed her. "Let it go. I can see you holding back, but there is fight in your eyes. Whether we are fighting to kill or just fighting for the heck of it, it is the Saiyan way. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Kaiya's angered expression softened, confusing Vegeta. "It's…It's not wrong to fight?" Kaiya asked him. Vegeta's confusion only grew. "B-But I was always taught…you never start a fight. You only fight back in self-defense. Teachers and parents tell their kids that ever since they were little. Lots of kids got into trouble for getting into fights. I stayed out of them, because I didn't want to disappoint my mother."

That had explained so much…Kakarot's desire to avoid fighting him, everyone's blind acceptation of who he was and how he was raised when he felt he did not deserve, Kaiya's reserved nature. Fighting for the sake of fighting was frowned upon, not fighting with a reason. Maybe that's why Kakarot had forgiven him, why his son, Gohan, had forgiven him, and why the blue-haired heiress welcomed him into her home. They hadn't seen him as a killer in those moments, but someone like them. This realization frightened him more than anything else. He refused to be like the Earthlings.

But Kaiya was an Earthling, and she had a warped view of what was acceptable. "Fighting is the way of life for Saiyan's," he told her. "We fight each other to train and get stronger to be prepared for our enemies. Sometimes we fight in order to bond, which is why I would have been fine if you acted on your impulse. Isn't there someone you fight in attempts to bond? With those Saiyan instincts, I can't see you without at least one person."

"Well, there is one person," Kaiya said nervously playing with her tail again.

"Who?"

"Hiei," Kaiya admitted ignoring the look of astonishment on her brother's face. "When we met, we got into it. We both hated each other, me for being human, him for his bad attitude. One day he pushed me too far and we started fighting. After a while, it just became something we did until we realized that we were both fighting to convey our feelings to one another. I'm not the most trusting person in the world, and he's the same way, so the fact that we fought like we did showed us how much we trusted the other person not to hurt us and we began to enjoy it."

Vegeta nodded. It irritated him a little that what Kaiya was describing was a bond or connection reserved only for close relatives and mates. Since Hiei was not the former, he was clearly who she was considering for a mate. But seeing as she knew nothing about her Saiyan genes and instincts, Vegeta would keep that quiet for now. He did need to have a discussion with Hiei about what he had taught his sister, as well as challenge him to see if he was a fit mate. With their father gone, not like his opinion would have mattered, and with Kaiya having no close male relatives that she trusted save for him, it was his obligation to make sure that, if she were to choose someone to remain with, she would be well taken care of.

"Is that the same thing?" Kaiya asked.

"Similar," Vegeta grumbled, not liking that he would probably have to interact with her friends again to get to know this Hiei person. "So," he said in attempts to change the subject, "what I said?"

Kaiya hadn't forgotten Vegeta's speech. It honestly meant a lot to her that he was warning her he might leave, but meant more that he would come back. She didn't want Vegeta to leave, especially after they were just reunited, but she also didn't want to leave her home to go with him into space. From what she remembered of Frieza, aliens, and space, it was all pretty traumatizing. "I understand, Geta," she told him. "And thank you…it means a lot to know that even if this wasn't planned that you still want me."

Tears started to form in Kaiya's eyes, and Vegeta sighed. He wasn't used to crying, but Kaiya seemed to cry a lot. From what he could tell, the girl was emotionally broken, but he had only minimal understanding of why that was. It definitely had to do with her father, but he had no details. He would find out sooner or later, but for now, he needed to get her to stop crying. Remembering their time on Frieza's ship, Vegeta stood from his seat and walked over to Kaiya, placing his arms around her shoulders. Kaiya took his silent invitation and buried herself in his chest, allowing him to hug her as she began to sob. Vegeta closed his eyes, trying to keep himself centered, but it was really angering him that his sister was so upset because of some man he would never get the chance to meet.

Bulma came back into the kitchen, not noticing the two Saiyans having their emotional moment. "Okay, sorry, forgot to get the milk out," she said before finally noticing Vegeta comforting his sister. "Um, everything okay?"

Vegeta just looked at Bulma staring at her in a way that told her to leave them be, but Bulma, knowing how humans worked, refused to leave and continued what she was doing, taking out the milk. With a heightened sense of smell, Kaiya was able to detect the traces of milk and remembered the cookies. She could really use chocolate in that moment. "Is that milk whole milk?" Kaiya muttered against Vegeta's chest. Her brother's attention turned back to her.

"Yeah, but we have skim here, too," Bulma responded. "Why?"

"Just, whole milk makes me sick," Kaiya explained. "Mom says skim is better for me."

"Oh, okay then. I'll get you some and we can all sit down and have these cookies."

"I'd like that," Kaiya told her while slightly pulling away from Vegeta.

The older Saiyan felt slightly dejected when she pulled away, but then she took his hand and he realized that she still needed to hold onto him. He joined her at the table and watched Bulma getting out the milk and bringing over a giant plate of cookies.

Vegeta watched how Kaiya and Bulma interacted. For some reason, Bulma was becoming very protective over his little sister. He didn't mind it, but he couldn't help but feel a strange sensation as he listened to the two talk about normal Earth stuff, including music and science. Where Bulma was good with machinery, Kaiya was brilliant when it came to studies of life and medicine. Bulma was even asking the girl her ideas on some of her medical equipment, and Kaiya seemed excited to discuss such things with someone.

"So, Kaiya," Bulma spoke up, "what would you say to coming over for a little get together this weekend."

"Get together?" both Kaiya and Vegeta asked at the same time.

"Well, yeah," Bulma said as if it should be obvious. "Don't tell me you've forgotten, Vegeta. The Namekian Dragon Balls will be active again and we can wish back some of our friends."

"Dragon Balls?" Kaiya inquired. "What are those? And what do you mean by wishing friends back?"

"And I don't know where you got the 'our' either," Vegeta sneered.

"Well, the Dragon Balls are these magical objects the Namekians made," Bulma explained. "And we're wishing out friends back who passed away a little over a year ago. A few of them died in a fight with a strong competitor," she said, side-stepping the fact that Vegeta had partly been responsible. She saw his reaction, one of disbelief, from her eliminating that detail from the story, even though she knew Kaiya most likely knew. "Then another friend died in the fight against Frieza on Namek. My best friend, Goku, defeated Frieza, but he couldn't get off the planet in time before it blew."

"Frieza destroyed _another _planet?" Kaiya asked angrily. Her fists clenched in rage. "How could anyone be so heartless? Isn't it bad enough he destroyed Planet Vegeta?"

Bulma started to get a little nervous when the girl's energy shifted around her, but Vegeta just placed a hand on Kaiya's shoulder. She came to seconds later and muttered an apology for her outburst. She went back to snacking on her cookies and milk. She looked to Bulma for a continuation of her explanation. "Um, well, we had to wait for the Dragon Balls to reactivate so that we can wish our friends back, and then the Namekians can wish themselves to a new planet."

"Oh," Kaiya replied. "It sounds really cool. I'd like to come." There is was again. The complete acceptance Vegeta would never understand. How many times did this girl need to be told something that would turn her life upside-down? "Could Hiei come too?"

"Sure!" Bulma chimed happily, not missing the look on Vegeta's face. Vegeta didn't realize how much he was acting like the typical Earthling big brother, but she would never tell him that. He always prided himself in the fact that Earthlings and Saiyans were completely different, but really they had a lot of the same customs.

"Great!" Kaiya said excitedly. Vegeta just muttered something neither woman could understand and drank some milk. "I can't wait to meet both of your friends."

After hearing Kaiya refer to the Z fighters as his friends, Vegeta nearly choked on his milk. His little episode caught both Kaiya's and Bulma's attention. "Geta, are you okay?" Kaiya asked in alarm. The Saiyan prince nodded, but Kaiya went behind him anyways and started patting his back a bit, making him feel slightly better. Bulma watched in awe as Vegeta completely relax as Kaiya patted on his back. This girl definitely had an effect on Vegeta, for the better. From the minute she had met Vegeta, he had never once looked relaxed or like he belonged. Now…she couldn't describe the warm feeling she felt at seeing him so…dare she say, human?

Vegeta looked to Kaiya, not sure how she managed to stop him from choking on his drink. Kaiya just smiled at him and said, "My grandparents always did that when I coughed or nearly choked on something. No idea what it's supposed to do, smacking someone's back, but it does help."

"You keep sharing these things with me, about your life…why?" Vegeta asked her with scrunched eyebrows.

"Well, you said you wanted to know me," Kaiya reminded him. "That means everything I've learned and experienced too. Including the concept of family. One day, you have to meet my mom. She would love you like her own, you know."

Bulma could see Vegeta getting flustered. He had no words at the moment, so Bulma decided to step in. "One step at a time," Bulma stated. "Have you even told your mother about what happened?"

"Oh my gosh!" Kaiya exclaimed. "No, I haven't, but she would want to know. She took me being part demon pretty well…hopefully this won't completely shock her. I mean, seriously, as of a week ago, neither of us believed in aliens, and now…well, my opinion on that changed drastically."

Bulma laughed at the girl's random and naïve nature. Other than the fact that she was suffering from something deeper than Bulma could understand, she had an uplifting and optimistic attitude that almost reminded her of Goku. The two of them could probably become good friends, other than the fact that her brother wanted to kill said Saiyan.

Kaiya finished up her last couple of cookies quickly, yet gracefully like Vegeta did. "I should probably get home," she said. "I kind of left Hiei there, and I should call my mother and tell her about all of this. But I'll be back tomorrow for training and then again on the weekend to meet your friends. And…I don't know how, but I will try my best to eat a lot more. It's hard to remember meals sometimes." She quickly gave Vegeta a hug before attempting to run off.

"Oh no, I see what you're doing," Bulma berated. "You were trying to leave without the credit card and the cooking bots." She walked over to Kaiya and placed both in her hands.

Kaiya sighed, her tail curling around her from being caught in doing something "wrong." She took the capsule and card from Bulma and gave the older woman a hug. "Thank you," she whispered before letting go and running off.

Vegeta was shocked that Kaiya acted so friendly with Bulma, and that Bulma actually seemed to care about his sister. The heiress walked over to the counter and got a few more cookies and refilled her glass of milk. "You know, your sister is very sweet," Bulma said, ignoring the fact that Vegeta didn't respond. "She kind of reminds me of you, except without the bad attitude."

Vegeta could tell that Bulma was teasing him, but he did not want to indulge in her need to taunt for the day. Where it had been somewhat normal for them to argue, he felt the need to lay this argument to rest. How dare she compare him to Kaiya? He was a merciless murderer, and Kaiya was innocent and naïve. There was no way they were alike, not at all.

"She has some of the same mannerisms, and there's her shyness," Bulma continued, now seeing that Vegeta was finally reacting. He was getting flustered. "Actually, the day I asked you to stay here, her shyness reminds me of that."

Bulma was out of the room before Vegeta could say or do anything. She pictured his mouth hanging open after that as she heard him mutter curses to her in his native language. Bulma was kind of glad she couldn't understand exactly what he was calling her, but she laughed the entire way to her room. Sometimes messing with the Saiyan prince was way too fun.

* * *

Kaiya returned home with a bunch of wings of different flavors. She had been very thankful to Bulma and her family for being willing to feed her. When Hiei had seen her carrying a ton of large boxes of wings, his mouth dropped open, no audible sound coming out.

"Um, yeah," she said with a smile. "I kind of need some help with the rest."

"Rest?" Hiei asked her

"I'll explain in a minute," she told him. "Just get the last couple of boxes out of the car while I get us some plates. There's a bag of sodas in the front, too."

Hiei's quirked brow returned to normal, though revealed his slight nervousness. Without asking any questions, he went out to collect the rest of the food and drinks from her car. He quickly brought the food to the kitchen and saw Kaiya piling a ton of wings.

"Oh good," she said taking a box from him, "the ranch dipping sauce is in there."

Hiei just stared at Kaiya like she was crazy. "Kaiya…I'm almost afraid to ask…what the hell are you doing?"

Kaiya paused in her movements and looked to Hiei. "Well, you know how I skip meals, eat small portions, and pretty much say I'm not hungry all the time?"

"Yeah?" Hiei grumbled. That was one thing he hated…Kaiya no taking care of herself.

"Apparently, I'm not allowed to do that," she told him. "I mean, I was never supposed to do that. I've been starving myself, not eating enough. Saiyans eat about, according to Bulma, 'a hundred times' what I eat. Vegeta wasn't happy about it either. So…Bulma offered me a credit card for a food allowance because I can't afford all of that food. I feel awkward for accepting it."

"Why?" Hiei asked her. "It's something you need, right? Why feel awkward about it?"

"She doesn't know me," Kaiya retorted.

"You didn't know me either, at least not well, and still decided to go behind my back to learn more about me," Hiei reminded her. "This woman obvious cares about you like you do others. Just accept it. It's much easier."

Kaiya laughed. "Vegeta said something similar. But yeah…I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow after class and before training. Still trying to figure out how to get it all done."

"I'll go with you," Hiei stated.

Kaiya again stopped her movements again to stare at her boyfriend. "You," she stated monotonously. "You want to come to my class with me, after what happened last time?"

Hiei narrowed his eyes at her. "It's not the same teacher is it?" Hiei muttered. "If it is, he will lose his hand next time he puts it on my head."

"Okay, okay, relax, jeez," Kaiya said holding her hands up in defense. "It's not the same guy. That class was over last semester."

"Thank God," Hiei grumbled taking his plate of wings. "Oh, and if both Vegeta and that woman told you to eat more, you are not finishing until you eat every last wing on that plate, plus five plates more."

"I know, Hiei," Kaiya replied with a smile. "I know. Oh, and 'that woman's' name is Bulma."

Hiei just looked at her, staring blankly at her. "Like I care," he said without any emotion.

Kaiya just rolled her eyes at him as they began to eat. Once Hiei was finished, he watched Kaiya. It was strange for her to have to change her eating habit so drastically later in life, and with the possibility of her forgetting to eat, Hiei took it upon himself to make sure she followed through with her brother's orders.

* * *

Vegeta was standing outside on the porch of his room. He was staring up at the night sky, just thinking.

"What are you doing?"

Vegeta sighed, annoyed that his quiet time was now being interrupted by the woman. "Nothing that concerns you," Vegeta told her.

"Oh come on," Bulma said as she placed the laundry basket she had been carrying down on the bed. "The look on your face was just too intense NOT to be something. You can trust me, you know. I won't judge you."

"You should," Vegeta scoffed. He turned and looked back outside. "She should too."

Bulma finally realized what this was all about and smiled. "Vegeta, most family members are close. Family is supposed to protect each other and provide love and support, and she wants to do that for you. Just let her."

"Do you understand what you are saying?" Vegeta nearly growled. "Did I not attack and kill your friends and attempt to wipe out your entire race like that tyrant?"

"You didn't know any other way," Bulma whispered.

Vegeta just looked at her, searching her expression for any hint of a trick or malice. "You know nothing, woman. Now leave me be."

"Fine," Bulma replied with a sigh. "You should get some rest. Your sister is coming back tomorrow."

"I know," he said calmly before Bulma stood up and walked back inside.

Her ki hadn't left hi room, and Vegeta was growing increasingly angry. Then he heard footsteps on the porch again and felt a piece of cloth being wrapped around him. He turned to cast Bulma a questioning glance as he pulled the blanket closer to him.

"Good night, Vegeta," she said before picking up her basket again and heading towards her room.

Vegeta sighed again before looking back at the universe. He would never understand the way Earthlings thought, but at least he seemed to have some type of mutual understanding with both Kaiya and Bulma, and no one else. And that's how Vegeta intended for it to stay.


	7. Chapter 6 - Enter Z Fighters

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just my OCs.

This is kind of a filler chapter, but kind of needed to move this all along XD

* * *

Kaiya could barely sleep the night before she was supposed to go to Capsule Corp. to meet the Z fighters. Part of her was nervous about the whole ordeal. She had spoken to her cousin, Nariko, the day before as well as her own mother, explaining to them and only them about the whole thing with Jiro, Frieza, and her being a Saiyan. Nariko freaked out much like she did when she found out Kaiya was a demon, although this was a lot less drama filled without the demon hunters. Her mother was understanding, as always, but was still in shock regarding the whole alien abduction.

Kaiya sighed looking outside at the night sky. Part of her really wanted to go outside and just stare at the stars. She had always loved going camping as a child, but it had been a long time since then. As an adult, it was harder to enjoy those things, such as the gathering of wood and making of s'mores, due to the fact that she was always studying or on some case for Spirit World. And now that she knew of her Saiyan side, she couldn't help but enjoy stargazing and reveling in the sight of the universe in front of her. It seemed amazing to her that all the stars in the sky were much more than that, possibly with another alien race living on those dots. Who knew? Maybe they were looking at Earth too.

"You should be asleep," Hiei stated walking into the living room.

"Can't," Kaiya admitted leaning her head on her bent knees, looking over to her boyfriend.

"Nervous or excited?" Hiei asked her, joining her on the windowsill.

"A bit of both I guess," Kaiya replied. "I really don't know why."

"I don't think you have to worry about tomorrow," Hiei told her. "You said Bulma seems to be excited about introducing you."

"Yeah, but Vegeta isn't," Kaiya sighed. "I just don't know what to think."

"I did not want Yukina bonding with anyone here at first," Hiei pointed out. "I didn't have a say because I wouldn't tell her who I was. Vegeta hasn't been on Earth all that long, and at best only sees Bulma as an acquaintance. He probably doesn't see her friends as his, especially when he's the reason some of them are dead."

"But they're getting wished back," Kaiya stated, knowing full well the things Vegeta did on Earth the year prior. "He can't still feel guilty about taking their lives."

Hiei sighed. "You've never had to kill, whether it be for fun or survival," he pointed out, "and hopefully you will never have to. That feeling of complete disregard for the other's life is what can never leave you, not matter what you do or how many lives you save since."

"But you need, and he needs, to let it go," Kaiya said looking away from the window and into her boyfriend's eyes. "Those actions defined you once, but they don't now. Why can you see that?"

"Habit," Hiei muttered. "It's a hard habit to break."

"Well, I say work towards breaking it," Kaiya suggested. "It won't happen overnight, but try to forgive yourself."

"Hn," Hiei replied, effectively ending the conversation. "You should go to bed. Where I don't see tomorrow being too bad, rest is required on your part."

"Yeah," Kaiya trailed off. "It's funny. Vegeta said Saiyans don't require a lot of sleep, but I feel so much better once I sleep. I think it's something he convinced himself of."

Hiei didn't respond other than saying, "Goodnight, Kaiya." Kaiya took the hint and left the room to go to bed. Meanwhile, Hiei remained on the windowsill, staring up at the night sky. He sighed before allowing himself to drift off into darkness.

* * *

Vegeta was still training by the time Saturday had come. The entire day had been constant training with no interruptions and no meals. When the sun came up, that was when Kakarot would be back. He would finally be able to prove himself and get the Earthling warrior's tips on becoming a Super Saiyan. His pride would be restored, and then he would take his place as ruler of the universe.

Then Vegeta froze as he walked out of the GR. No, he wouldn't be able to do that anymore. He had a tie here, and he knew that he would never be able to stay away for long. Kaiya needed him, but Vegeta didn't know if he'd be willing to give up his original plan for her. It had been a long time since Vegeta felt the need to protect anyone else or make the proud of him. Frieza stripped him of that quality, and Vegeta had gone along with it sending Raditz to his death and ending Nappa himself. The Saiyan prince shook his head trying to rid himself of the memories. He couldn't believe he allow Frieza to mold him into…_that_.

Vegeta sneered and growled at the memories of his former master and entered the compound through the kitchen door. He found that the lights were still on, which was highly unusual. What was even more unusual was that he found Bulma up as well drinking a beverage that humans would deem "alcoholic." Vegeta grimaced. He hated those types of drinks, especially with how they affected Saiyans.

He stepped into the kitchen making Bulma tense when she heard him step onto the hard floor. She turned to see him standing in the doorway and smiled. "Hey Vegeta," she said, obviously not completely affected by her drink yet. "I hope you enjoyed your training session. Dinner is in the fridge."

Vegeta simply nodded in acknowledgement. He went to the fridge and started piling food on the plate that was left out for him. Then Bulma sighed, and Vegeta waited for her to start bombarding him with a conversation he knew he would find pointless.

"So, the guys are going to be back tomorrow," Bulma pointed out. Yup, he found it pointless already. "I can't believe it's been so long since I saw Yamcha."

Vegeta had to force himself not to scoff. He had heard enough of the woman talking about her on-again-off-again boyfriend too often. He hadn't even known who she was referring to until he saw pictures around the house and the woman's mother was talking to him about them. He was just the weakling warrior who was so full of himself, yet was taken out by one of the Saibamen in less than a moment. Vegeta's eyes narrowed at his plate of food. He did not want to see that guy the next day.

"I'm glad that Kaiya said she wanted to come," Bulma continued. Vegeta tensed again, clutching onto a glass he had just filled with water. "She's such a sweetheart, Vegeta. I never got to have any siblings. I'm a little jealous."

Vegeta turned to flash her a look of annoyance and confusion. Bulma just laughed at the look on his face. "Lighten up," she said. "I just meant that you're lucky to have someone like her. She really looks up to you."

"She shouldn't," Vegeta replied, feeling a sense of déjà vu. "There's nothing to look up to."

"I bet she doesn't see it that way," Bulma chided gently smiling at Vegeta when he shot her a look of incredulousness. "I mean it, Vegeta. Can you honestly blame her? On a ship full of scary aliens she had never seen, you were the only one to look after her."

Vegeta looked away and shrugged. "It was my job," he reminded her, hoping she'd drop it.

"Did you job include sending her safely back home?" Bulma pressed.

Well, he knew she had him there. No, it wasn't his job to protect her like that. He treated her differently than anyone else in his life. He wasn't willing to accept punishment from sending her away before he found out she was his sister, hence the reason she had still been on the ship; but once he knew, he couldn't ignore it. He couldn't fight the need to protect her life at all costs. She had been his only attachment, the only one he allowed himself to have despite not wanting them.

And now Frieza was dead. There was nothing preventing him from taking care of her and protecting her. The tyrant could never hurt either of them again, unless you counted the memories and nightmares. Ruling the universe? He lost that desire and drive from being on this planet. Besides, if he ruled, he would not do it like Frieza had. He was not the same killer he had been, or at least he didn't want to be. But maybe he didn't have to rule. What if he truly did decide to stay?

"I'm going to bed," Vegeta announced abruptly, swiftly marching out of the kitchen.

Bulma smiled as she watched the Saiyan leave. She had been around him enough to know that something she had said may have finally broken through to him. The heiress couldn't wait until the next morning, and not just because they would be able to wish some of their friends back. She was happy that it would be another great bonding activity for the two Saiyans, and those moments were something they both seemed to need.

* * *

Kaiya and Hiei drove over to Capsule Corp. the next morning and were surprised to see so many people. Kaiya had never seen all the Namekians at once and now they were all outside with Bulma and her family, a black-haired woman and a little boy, as well as another Namekian wearing a turban that Kaiya had yet to meet. There was also some old guy. Both fire demons watched in amusement as he tried to grope Bulma before she beat him into the ground. The only person they hadn't seen yet was Vegeta.

"I wonder where he is," Kaiya mused.

"Hn, probably waiting for you," Hiei told her. "Let's go."

"Hiei, there's a lot of people," Kaiya pointed out. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I hate crowds because people annoy me. I don't have issues with crowds in general."

Kaiya sighed as she unbuckled herself. "If you say so."

Kaiya and Hiei exited her car and walked over to the large group. Bulma spotted them first and was quick to welcome them before her mother ran to Kaiya and nearly choked the life out of her. Vegeta watched from the shadows as his sister was smothered with the love and affection he didn't know if he could give her. He watched Hiei follow her around glaring at anyone who didn't know who attempted to get near Kaiya.

"So anyways, you know my parents and you've seen some of the Namekians," Bulma conversed. "Piccolo is over by that tree." She pointed to a Namekian sitting under the large oak tree. He just glanced at Kaiya before returning to a meditative state. Kaiya didn't feel all that great when his eyes bore into her. She had no idea why he had been acting like that when she never met him.

Bulma then led Kaiya and Hiei to three humans. "And this is Roshi. He trained my friends Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha. And this is Chi Chi and Gohan. Gohan is half-Saiyan and Chi Chi is his mother."

Kaiya smiled, her tail swishing excitedly back and forth, before she knelt in front of the little boy. Gohan acted a little shy which seemed to shock both Bulma and Chi Chi as Gohan had finally been coming out of his shell. The Saiyan princess seemed oblivious to the fact and was still as cheery as ever. "Hi," she greeted. "I'm Kaiya."

"I know," Gohan replied nervously. "I heard from my friend, Dende, that you're Vegeta's sister."

"I am," Kaiya answered, not fully understanding why Gohan seemed so wary of her. "He's been a really great big brother to me."

Vegeta's heart nearly broke when he heard what she said, especially after observing the animosity held towards her for merely being related to him. What she had told Kakarot's brat was far from the truth. He was not a good big brother to or for her. In his own mind, he had been the worst person imaginable to her, causing her nothing but pain. She deserved better than what he could offer, yet she still spoke so highly of him, and to his rival's son no less whom he had also treated poorly.

"Really?" he heard the boy ask in surprised.

"Why is that so unexpected?" Kaiya asked.

"Okay," Bulma said, drawing attention away from the topic of discussion. "We should probably get started. The soon we get our friends back, the better."

"Oh that's right," one of the Namekians Kaiya didn't know called out. "We wanted to tell you to make all of your wishes for all of your friends back. We can wait to find a new home."

"Are you sure?" Bulma asked him. When she received a nod, she grinned. "Alright, you heard the man. Let's get this show on the road."

Gohan's shyness disappeared when a young Namekian ran over to him and the Dragon Balls. Kaiya remembered the little Namekian having run into after a training session with her brother. "Hey, Dende, right?" she asked.

The little Namekian turned to Kaiya and flashed her a small smiled. "You remembered me?" he asked.

"Of course," Kaiya replied returning the smile. "You've the one who helped me when I got lost in there." She pointed to Capsule Corp. for dramatic effect. Dende laughed, and when Gohan saw how laid back his friend was with the Saiyan princess, he seemed to lose the nervousness and animosity he held towards the Saiyan princess.

Bulma smiled, but then frowned and looked back to her home wondering where Vegeta was. She knew he couldn't stand her friends, but his sister was here. Surely he had sensed her arrival. Why was he acting so distant? She started to wonder if it had anything to do with their conversation the night before. Maybe she hadn't talked sense into him like she had hoped.

"Um, Bulma, shouldn't we make the wishes now?" Gohan asked holding a little more confidence in his voice than before.

Bulma, broken out of her thoughts, exclaimed, "Gohan, you're right. It's time to get your father back."

With the help of Dende, Bulma called upon the dragon. A large, green dragon appeared in the sky freaking out many of the passersby. Bulma looked over to Kaiya to gage her reaction and saw her smiling to Hiei who was smirking. They must have been having some kind of conversation telepathically, but heck if Bulma knew what they could be talking about. She had a job to do anyway, so she focused on the task at hand.

The first wish was to bring two people, Krillin and Goku, to Earth's check-in station. Apparently the wish could not be fulfilled because the one they called Goku was still alive. This shocked everyone, but then they changed the wish to bring Goku to Earth. The wish could not be fulfilled because Goku was staying away purposefully and refused to come.

Faces fell in the group, and actually Chi Chi nearly had an outburst. Kaiya looked over to Gohan who looked devastated at the fact that his father was choosing to stay away longer. Smiling sadly, Kaiya picked up the small boy and hugged him. Gohan, initially shocked, relaxed when he realized he was safe.

"It'll be okay, Gohan," Kaiya whispered to him. "Your dad will be back. I just know it. He's probably just training to be ready for the next opponent."

Gohan smiled when she said this, and Kaiya set him back down. Chi Chi looked over to the young girl and mouthed over a "thank you." Kaiya just smiled and motioned that it was no big deal. She understood the disappointment, but thankfully it was for a different circumstance. From what she heard from Bulma, Goku was a good father.

Something inside Vegeta snapped when he heard that Kakarot was purposefully staying away. His return was the only thing that had originally been keeping Vegeta there. Now, he couldn't understand why he wouldn't return. He had a family there, as well as many enemies. Did he honestly mean to leave his wife and child unprotected? And did he truly plan on keeping Vegeta waiting for a rematch? Yes, those were two completely unrelated things, but Vegeta was angered by the lack of consideration on the other full-blooded Saiyan's part. He then made a snap decision and made his way to the spaceship he had been using for training.

Everyone was surprised to hear and then see the ship take off, but none was more surprised than Kaiya. She had expected to see her brother, but he just left so abruptly. Hiei grabbed her wrist, bringing her attention to him. He looked incredibly concerned, but Kaiya just smiled remembering her brother's words from a couple days ago.

"He'll be back," she said. "He just can't stay on one planet for too long. Habit, you know?"

Hiei nodded in understanding with her use of the reason of their conversation the night before; however, Bulma wasn't as accepting.

"Still, he could have at least said 'goodbye' first," she complained.

"He's not one for 'goodbyes,'" Kaiya stated with a shrug. "I can hardly blame him, though. It's not 'goodbye;' it's 'see you soon.'"

After Bulma thought about it for a moment, she sighed. "Well, we still have the wishes to make."

Dende instructed the dragon to send Krillin to the check in station. He was then wished back to life and walked through a glowing portal. "Hn," Hiei replied with a smirk. Kaiya stared at him questioningly. "Koenma must be having a field day right now with souls being wished back to life at the drop of a pin."

Kaiya just chuckled and shook her head. She sometimes forgot how much her boyfriend despised the Spirit World ruler. This was serving as a type of amusement for him. Now, the remaining question was who would be wished back next. No one seemed to want to make that choice.

Eventually, a voice was heard, even by Kaiya and Hiei who were tuned in telepathically. The two of them shrugged to one another, not sure where this new voice was coming from. The voice said it was okay for the others to wish someone named Yamcha back and that Tien and Chiaotzu would be wished back the next time the Dragon Balls were active, another 130 day wait. The names were unfamiliar to the two fire demons, but they waited patiently for Yamcha to be wished back.

When Yamcha walked out of the glowing portal, Kaiya whispered to Hiei, "Koenma owned count, five."

"Five?" Hiei asked.

"Yusuke twice," she started to list counting on her fingers, "me, and now two people, all being revived. His hundred year speech was such a crock."

"Well," Gohan whispered to them, "almost everyone here was wished back to life before, even my dad and Vegeta. Krillin was wished back twice, and Chiaotzu will have also been wished back twice."

Hiei couldn't help but chuckle, playfully elbowing Kaiya. "Imagine the paperwork." Kaiya burst out laughing, though not loud enough to draw attention to herself. Gohan was confused as to what paperwork they were referring to. Then, as Kaiya sobered up from the joke, she frowned.

"Wait," she said as calmly as she could muster, "you said that Vegeta was brought back to life. How did it happen?"

Gohan hesitated in telling Kaiya. He himself was still suffering from the nightmares. Even Vegeta's death was painful for him to remember, especially being paired with the story he told.

"It was-"

"Yamcha!" Bulma exclaimed happily, running over to the man whose life was now restored.

Gohan breathed out a breath of relief when Kaiya's attention was drawn away from her question. He noticed Hiei looking at him, glaring, making him nervous. What the young demi-Saiyan didn't realize was that Hiei was not glaring at him but glaring after learning the reason for Vegeta's death, speech and all. He too was relieved that Kaiya had gotten distracted and hoped she would stay that way. It was clear that she had not seen all of Vegeta's memories, meaning he had not seen all of hers either.

Meanwhile, Kaiya was staring at the man whom Bulma was with. She remembered Bulma telling her about Yamcha during girl talk once before. The two of them had dated in the past, but had broken it off for reasons Bulma did not disclose. Kaiya had shrugged it off at the time, but then she has seen the way Vegeta and Bulma acted around each other. Part of her had hoped that the two of them would be together. She kept that thought to herself, though.

Everyone seemed to make their way back into Capsule Corp. when Yamcha finally asked, "Hey, who's the girl, and who is that guy with her. She's kind of hot."

He was just teasing, Kaiya knew, but neither she nor Hiei found it funny. Hiei glared and growled at the offender, taking Kaiya's hand his, making the human chuckle nervously. "Lighten up, dude," he said. "I was just kidding. Obviously she's your girlfriend. I just wanted to know who you two were."

Kaiya narrowed her eyes, sighed, and stated, "Joke or not, it's disrespectful to speak to someone's girlfriend in such a manner. Plus, if you want to know who we are, just ask our damn names."

Yamcha was startled by how the girl could go from speaking eloquently one second to cursing the next. "Fine, then," he muttered. "Who are you?"

Kaiya smirked victoriously and decided to grace him with a response. "My name is Kaiya Ishii, and that is much better."

Yamcha just rolled his eyes and looked to Hiei. "And you?"

"Hiei," he said with a slight growl. "And speak to her in that degrading manner again and the wish bringing you back today will have been a waste."

"Threatening me in front of your girlfriend," Yamcha bit out, chuckling bitterly. "Might wanna watch yourself or you'll lose her."

Kaiya simply shrugged, not caring what Yamcha said. "I have no delusions as to who Hiei is. If he hadn't threatened you, I would have."

Yamcha was starting to get irritated with Kaiya's behavior. "Bulma, who the heck is this girl and why the hell is she here?" Yamcha said with a snarl.

"Kaiya is Vegeta's sister, Yamcha," Bulma replied, ignoring most of the conflict. She couldn't blame Kaiya for acting the way she was. The girl was not only the sister of one of the most stubborn people she's ever met, but she also had that Saiyan instinct to fight, even verbally. "She came to visit."

"Vegeta has a sister?" Yamcha asked in shock. He looked over to Kaiya and then smirked at her. "That explains so much. So where is the creep?"

Kaiya froze in her steps and glared at the human. "My brother is not a 'creep,'" Kaiya growled. "He may have done bad things, but he's a good person."

Yamcha rolled his eyes. "Look kid, I don't know what he's told you, but he's the reason a lot of people are dead, including me and a few other friends," Yamcha explained sternly, avoiding Bulma's glare of warning.

When she realized that he was ignoring her, Bulma spoke up. "Yamcha, stop," she warned. He still ignored her as the Namekians, Gohan, Chi Chi, and Krillin just watched in shock as everything unfolded.

"He hasn't lied to me!" Kaiya shouted. "I already know the majority of the things he's done. I'm a telepath; I've seen the things unfold, and you will never understand any of it."

"No one answered my question," Yamcha said in attempts to change the subject. He could feel the girl's energy, and honestly he wasn't looking to die again anytime soon. "Where is Vegeta?"

Bulma sighed, running her hand through her hair. "He took off for space today."

Yamcha just looked over to Kaiya. "You see? He's already left you. You can't tell me he's not a bad guy."

"He'll be back," Kaiya replied with confidence. She turned to face Bulma, ignoring the perplexed stares of all the other guests. "Thanks for having us, but we're going to go. Let me know when Geta gets back."

She didn't give anyone a chance to say "goodbye" before flashing out of there. Hiei glared at the scarred fighter before following. Yamcha received an unexpected smack to the head, causing him to turn around and scold whoever struck him. The second he turned around, he regretted it. There Bulma stood, arms crossed, shaking her head. "You really need to choose your audience," was all she said to him for the rest of the day.

* * *

When Kaiya pulled up in front of her apartment, she stormed out of the car. Hiei sighed and locked the vehicle up and watched as flames appeared every time Kaiya took a step. He hoped it was purposeful and not that she was losing control, but he got his answer when the flames disappear as she stepped on the carpet. Kaiya was just releasing her anger.

"It's a relief to know you aren't regressing and losing control of your powers," he said monotonously.

Kaiya sighed as she walked inside the small unit. "I can't stand when people act like they know everything," Kaiya stated, her voice wavering. "Jiro, Jake, so many of our enemies…they didn't know anything and they tried to kill us, judging us like there was some fundamental law that all those with demon powers are bad. I know Vegeta did bad things, but I also know WHY." She sighed again and shook her head. "Why can't anyone ever get the full story before judging?"

"It doesn't matter," Hiei told her, moving a strand of hair from her face. "As long as your opinion of him doesn't change, he'll be able to ignore the opinions of those he doesn't care about."

"I guess you're right." The alarm on Kaiya's phone then went off, and she grinned. "I forgot! Hiei, turn on the TV and put on channel six."

"Why, dare I ask?"

"Because there's a special on blue whales!" she exclaimed from the kitchen, the confrontation from earlier nearly forgotten.

* * *

Vegeta was in the middle of doing his kata and various exercises at 150 times Earth's gravity. He refused to go much higher because he knew that if he damaged the ship, he would not be able to repair it and he would never get back to his sister. His goal was to find Kakarot and bring him back to the blue planet, as well as learning the secret to his transformation back on Namek. He was hoping that locating him wouldn't take so long. There was no doubt his abrupt departure was causing all sorts of commotion back on Earth.

His second goal was to get back to his sister as quickly as possible. Already he was beginning to miss her, plus he was worried. He still had no idea what she knew in terms of defense, nor did he know if Hiei was a suitable mate for her. That would be the first thing he took care of when he got back.

The monitor of the ship started blinking rapidly, beeping repetitively. Wanting to make the irritating noise stop, Vegeta paused in his exercises and made his way to the monitor. The reason for this interruption irritated Vegeta. The ship was passing by one of Frieza's trade planets. Normally, Vegeta would have ignored the rock and never look back…everything that had happened lately was far from normal.

Vegeta had felt the desire to change, but his pride was in the way, as well as the existence of the PTO. The memories of his time serving Frieza were still ever present in his mind, now more than ever with his memories being unlocked. The Saiyan prince growled as he began hitting buttons, resetting the ship's course for the small, red, trade planet. Now he had a third goal…to disband the PTO once and for all.

* * *

Back on Earth, in a small cave located in the middle of nowhere, two figures cloaked in black were gathering round, white objects. "Are you sure those rocks are what we're looking for?" a feminine voice asked.

The other cloaked figure, taller than the girl, sent her a glare with his eyes as the rest of his face was covered. The cave was dark, contrasting to the white shine of the small, spherical rocks. "They don't look like much now, but in a few months, they will because active starred balls. We will be able to wish for our master's return."

"Whatever you say," the girl scoffed in reply. "I'll believe it when I see it."

The male, cloaked figure rolled his eyes to his comrade's remark. He looked back to the rocks and smirked beneath the cloth mask. _Soon, _he thought to himself, _soon our master will be back to take his revenge. Those demons have no chance._


	8. Chapter 7 - The Return of Two Times Two

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, DBZ, or the characters. Just my OCs.

* * *

And a couple months has passed by very swiftly. It was already the end of the semester for Kaiya, and she was spending more time over at Capsule Corp. despite her brother not being there. At first, Bulma had invited her back after another 130 days to meet her other two friends and to say "goodbye" to the Namekians as they left planet Earth for good. This time she went without Hiei because he was asked to assist Yusuke and the others with a mission. He would not give Kaiya the details, and she was worried because as soon as he was given details, he completely shut down on her.

The saddest part about the Namekians leaving was the fact that Gohan and Dende had to part ways. The little Namekian seemed to be the only one Gohan hung out with that was around his age, so it seemed. Kaiya felt bad about friends parting like she had with a couple of hers, but she understood that Dende had to go with his people. And now one of the reasons she went to Capsule Corp. as often was to spend time with the other half-breed, and found out he was incredibly smart.

Vegeta had yet to return, and Kaiya missed him. She knew he would be back, but not knowing when was really taking its toll on her. Waiting was always harder when you kept focusing on the subject. It was like waiting for final grades, but on a much larger scale. She only hoped that wherever her brother was, he was safe and healthy.

"Bulma, why is she here?" Yamcha asked when he saw Kaiya sitting in the tree outside looking up at the sky.

Bulma just scoffed. Yamcha had not been very welcoming the first time Kaiya showed up at Capsule Corp. after their big blowout. He really had no room to talk, but since he was currently living there for a short time, he felt he had the right to ask her to leave. Bulma was happy she had overheard the conversation as Kaiya got ready to go. Later she had asked the girl why she was leaving and she responded by saying, "I won't go anywhere I'm not wanted."

After that, Bulma set both of them straight. Kaiya was welcomed, and Yamcha needed to get over it. Bulma did not rescind her invitations, and that was something they both now understood.

She watched Kaiya kicking out her dangling legs as she continued to look at the sky. The girl had never been like this when she came over, but today she refused to look away from the sky. The heiress was getting concerned for her and hoped that Vegeta would be back soon, for both her sake and his. The two siblings needed each other, of that she was certain.

"Yamcha, leave her alone," Bulma sighed. "She's here because she's hoping Vegeta will be back today."

Yamcha just scoffed. "She'll be waiting forever on that jerk."

Bulma sent Yamcha a glare and he instantly shut up. "Look, I'm only going to say this once. You have not seen them together. I have, and let me tell you; he is a completely different person than we had come to know when he's around her. So, if he said he would come back to her, I have no doubt that it's the truth."

"Whoa, calm down, Bulma," Yamcha pleaded, holding up his hands in defense. "I was just saying, but if you're confident about this…"

Yamcha couldn't bring himself to lie and say that he believed what she did, but he didn't even have the time to as a spacecraft crash landed in the backyard. He looked to the tree to see Kaiya smiling, her eyes lighting up, before sensing a familiar energy. "Great, he's back," he muttered.

Bulma smiled at her friend. "See, what did I tell you?" she asked before running out into the backyard.

The door to the ship opened and Vegeta was about to step out. He was prevented from doing so, being knocked back into the ship as his sister tackled him for a hug.

"Geta, you're back!" she exclaimed happily causing the older Saiyan to smirk.

"Yes," he replied. "I won't be going again for a while."

Vegeta could visibly see the joy appear on her face as he said this, his smirk becoming more of a relaxed grin as he hugged the girl tighter. Kaiya looked up to her brother, her tail thrashing in her happiness. "I've been training more while you were away," she said with pride. "I've been eating more too."

"Good," Vegeta replied rubbing the top of her head. He had missed his sister dearly over the last few months with the only consolation being the disbandment of a handful of Frieza's trade and slave planets. "What's been going on in the last few months?"

"Well," Kaiya started, "I finished school for the semester so I have more free time, I visited my mom in America, then when I got back, I found out that Hiei and the guys are on another case and they wouldn't give me any details, so I've been training on my own or hanging out here with Bulma, and unfortunately her ex. He's so annoying."

Vegeta growled and rolled his eyes. "So that weakling is finally back. Great. He's such an idiot from what I remember of him."

"Oh, he's an idiot alright," Kaiya agreed. "He hit on me in front of Hiei…to be funny. I was not amused."

Vegeta just shook his head. "Has he been here a lot?"

"You could say that," Kaiya said carefully. "He kind of lives here right now. Something about not paying his rent while he was dead and such…he had no home to go home too, and until baseball season starts up again, he's pretty much screwed."

Vegeta grimaced, not liking the idea of sharing a home with a weakling, especially one he killed and couldn't stand from only moments of knowing him. He also did not like the idea of the scarred warrior hitting on his sister. He would definitely be keeping an eye on him.

"Come on, let's go," Kaiya called out, tugging on Vegeta's arm. "You're probably hungry, and it's been a while since you've been home."

_Home, _Vegeta thought to himself. It was such a foreign concept for him, but one he was willing to accept for the time being, as long as that meant getting to know his sister more. They hadn't really spent that much time together since their memories had been unlocked. It was time to change that.

"Sounds like a plan, sister," he stated, feeling lighthearted when she grinned and nuzzled against him.

She responded in a whisper, "I missed you, big brother. It wasn't the same without you." Vegeta simply nodded in response as the two of them started walking out of the ship, Kaiya walking in front of him. When they were out of the ship he saw Bulma and Yamcha staring at him. Bulma seemed to be pondering something, but Yamcha got into a fighting stance. Vegeta scoffed, almost laughing, at how pathetic he looked.

"You have a lot of nerve showing your face here, Vegeta," Yamcha growled.

"You do realize he was invited here, right?" Kaiya asked before Vegeta could retort.

Bulma looked directly to Vegeta and smiled at him. Before any kind of argument rang out between the weakling and his sister, Bulma said, "Good to see you, but I can smell you all the way from over here. You need a bath."

Vegeta was appalled by her just coming out with such a statement. He looked over to Kaiya who just giggled before Bulma walked over to him and poked a finger at his chest. "Follow me," she ordered. The Saiyan prince just grumbled and put his hands on his hips, pouting as he followed her inside.

"What just happened?" Yamcha asked Kaiya after Bulma and Vegeta were out of earshot.

Kaiya ignored him and just went inside, leaving Yamcha in a stunned silence in the backyard of Capsule Corp. He looked over to the spaceship which looked pretty beat up. Cringing at the fact that wherever Vegeta had gone must have been incredibly dangerous, he decided to head inside too.

Kaiya waited outside with Yamcha and Bulma as they waited for Vegeta to finish showering. Bulma was making barbeque while talking with Kaiya, Yamcha feeling a little misplaced even though Krillin had shown up.

"So Kaiya," Bulma started, "I don't know if you and your brother have similar tastes, but what do you think he likes."

"Well, I know if all else fails, you can never have too much barbeque sauce, at least with me," the girl replied with a smile. Kaiya had become a lot closer to Bulma and no longer felt out of sorts or shy around the older woman. If anything, she felt like Bulma had become her best friend and confidant.

"Alright, then, I'll just-"

"Woman! Where the hell are my clothes?"

"Well, sounds like someone just got out of the shower," Bulma muttered. Kaiya just looked into the house in the direction of the bathroom. "They were torn and needed to be washed, but I left some clothes for you on the counter!"

"Uh, what…Are these clothes for a man or for a woman? I'm a warrior, not some variety of flower," they heard him yell. Bulma started laughing quietly.

"Bulma, what did you do?" Kaiya asked her.

"Oh, you'll see, Kaiya," she replied. "He's finally going to get a little color in his wardrobe.

Kaiya's brow quirked up in question at Bulma's antics, but when her brother walked out of the room sporting bright yellow pants and a pink top, Kaiya couldn't help but burst out laughing. Bulma joined her, especially after she said, "Well, at least you smell good."

Vegeta eyes narrowed at the two girls, but noticed the fearful look on both Krillin's and Yamcha's faces. The weakling looked as if he were debating on whether to attack. Vegeta did not understand why. His expression simply screamed "what are you looking at?" causing Yamcha to avert his eyes.

"Um, guys, you probably shouldn't be laughing," Yamcha stated before the two girls started trying to calm down.

Kaiya wiped a tear from her eye. "Why, it's hysterical," she said. "I mean, honestly, if I hate the color pink so much, I can only assume Geta hates it even more."

Vegeta looked over to Kaiya who was now forcing herself not to laugh. He grinned at her, surprising Yamcha, as he moved to sit down next to her. Yamcha was shocked that he didn't retaliate or attack either of the girls, Kaiya being his sister or not. He expected him to lose it and harm the two girls, but now the killer he had come to know looked more laid back than he ever could have imagined.

Lunch was nice as everyone was engaged in conversation. Vegeta wasn't that engaged, grunting occasionally in response to a question. He responded more with words to Kaiya a times. Bulma acted as if it were a normal occurrence to see Vegeta acting this way, but Krillin and Yamcha, having never seen him around Kaiya, were shocked. The cold-hearted Saiyan seemed to have a soft spot for his sister.

"So anyways, then finals came and went and I was thankful to get the heck out of there," Kaiya said finishing up a story about her semester. "Don't get me wrong, the classes were great, but if I have another teacher that says birds are these amazing animals like the guy who said if they had a thinking brain they'd rule us, I'm going to skip that class."

"Birds…taking over?" Vegeta asked incredulously. "What the hell do they teach you at this college place?"

"Well, if we go by two semesters ago, my teacher kind of told us how to dispose of a dead body…" Kaiya trailed off. "Yeah, I have some interesting teachers."

Vegeta just shook his head when she mentioned that last teacher. "You sure this place is safe for you?"

Kaiya looked at him, about to laugh, but she saw the seriousness of his expression. He didn't realize that this wasn't another facility like the one she had been training at as a child run by Frieza. Then she smiled at him and took his hand. "Don't worry; it's not that kind of place, and the teacher only told us that little bit of information based off of the science of tissue degradation, not from experience."

Vegeta nodded, somewhat understanding. "If you get into any trouble there, you know how to get my attention," was all he said as a response.

Krillin's shock regarding Vegeta's character and relationship with his sister had been gone by that point, but Yamcha was still astonished when he saw and heard Vegeta acting so calmly and, dare he say, protective around Kaiya. Then, everyone's eyes widened, except for Bulma, when they sensed a strong energy source.

"No," Vegeta muttered under his breath. "Kakarot failed. He's still alive."

At hearing Vegeta's words, Kaiya looked up at her now standing brother and asked very carefully, "Who is, Geta?"

The prince shook his head. It was bad enough Frieza was still alive, but now Kaiya had been found and he had a feeling Frieza would not react well to the two of them being together, freed up memories of what he had done and all. "Frieza," he reluctantly admitted to her.

Kaiya paled when she heard that name. She shook her head before any of the memories could come back. "I…I didn't think he was still alive…I mean, you being here and all, I just assumed he was gone."

The fear in her voice was evident. Even Krillin and Yamcha could hear it. "Bulma, I think you and Kaiya should stay here," Krillin suggested.

"Are you out of your mind?" Bulma asked. "I didn't get a chance to see this guy on Namek. I want to see what the big deal is." Truthfully, and both Vegeta and Kaiya had known this, she had seen her fair share of Frieza from their memories. The real reason she wanted to go, that Kaiya could pick up on, was that she was worried about the two Saiyans that had the misfortune of being prisoners on Frieza's ship.

"Fine," Vegeta said calmly, though he too was panicked about seeing his former master again. He looked to Kaiya and his face softened. "If things look bad, you leave, understand?" Kaiya frowned, but nodded. "Good. Now let's go."

* * *

"Okay guys," Yusuke muttered, "why are we out in the mountains. Don't we get enough nature at Grandma's?"

"Shut up, detective," Hiei bit out. "We're here because of a job. Koenma said that his scouts found demons hunters out here."

"I take it you haven't told Kaiya yet," Kurama stated. When Hiei didn't respond, Kurama spoke again. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Kaiya doesn't need to know that the demon hunters did not disband," Hiei retorted. "She only recently got over Jiro. The last thing we need is for her to relapse. She's finally happy."

"Yeah, well, hopefully we won't have to tell her," Kuwabara stated, understanding the fire demon's desire to keep this a secret. "If we can stop them from whatever they're doing, she never has to know."

"Still, I have a bad feeling about this," Kuronue mentioned. "I don't want to think about what this premonition could be."

"Let's just find those assholes," Yusuke said punching his fist into his opposite hand. Just then, the five boys sensed a strong energy. "Um, what the hell was that?" He saw that Hiei was staring at a darkened sky in confusion and question. "Hiei, what's wrong?"

"That's impossible," he growled out. "Someone is using Dragon Balls." Out of nowhere, both Yusuke and Kuwabara started cracking up. "What the hell is so funny?" he screamed at the two.

"What about your dragon, Hiei?" Yusuke asked. "I wasn't aware the Dragon of the Darkness Flame had-" He couldn't even finish his perverted joke from laughing so hard.

"I'm not talking about that!" he snapped. "I'm talking about these objects that Kaiya's brother's…for lack of a better term, friends, used to bring their other friends back to life."

"Wait, what?" Yusuke asked growing serious. "Man Koenma must be PO'ed with all of these people coming back to life just like that."

"That's what Kaiya and I said, but not the point. That," he said pointing into the direction of the dark cloud, "is where the dragon has been summoned to, and that means someone is making a wish."

"That doesn't bode well for us," Kurama stated. He was met with many questioning glance, except for Kuronue who had the same mindset as his former thieving partner. "Think about it. Demon hunters have brought these Dragon Balls together to make a wish, and they have the power to bring people back to life. Who do you think the demon hunters would resurrect?"

"Their leader, most likely," Kuwabara stated, not truly grasping the meaning of what he just said. Hiei's eyes widened, and he looked like someone had just stolen his soul. "Uh, shorty, you okay?"

"Oh my God," Yusuke breathed out. "They're going to bring Jiro back, aren't they?"

The dark cloud disappeared, and they knew that if that had been what the wish was, they were too late to stop it.

"We need to go warn Kaiya," Kuwabara said in a panic.

"No, not yet," Hiei growled as he clenched his fists. "I need to see him for myself. I do not want to frighten or upset her, especially if we are not even sure what they wished for."

"I'm with Hiei on this," Kuronue replied. "The last thing I want to do is tell Alexia that her psychotic uncle who put them in classes where they were trained to fight each other is alive."

"Those were classes for the two of them to become killers," Hiei reminded Kuronue. "Now that they know that, I have even less of a desire to tell them the bastard is back."

"Fine," Kurama agreed. "We will go scout out the area of where we saw that dark cloud and hopefully our worst fear has not been realized."

* * *

Vegeta and Kaiya made it to a wasteland before the other Z fighters and Bulma started showing up. Frieza's presence was nearing closer to the planet, and Vegeta wasn't sure how thrilled he was with the idea of his former master and tormentor showing up just after he returned. Something was amiss, he felt. There was no way it was a coincidence. He looked over to his sister who seemed trapped in her thoughts. He wasn't too happy with the fact that she was there either. If Frieza knew they had found each other and regained their memories, there was no telling what he would do to either of them for his sick amusement.

"How long until he gets here?" Kaiya asked hesitantly.

"A few minutes tops," Vegeta replied. "If you're worried, it might be best for you to leave."

"No way," Kaiya said shooting him a heated look. "There's no way I'm leaving you alone with him again."

Vegeta didn't know how to respond to that, but he didn't get the chance to when he saw his sisters friends heading to the wasteland.

"Kaiya!" Yusuke called out in worry. "You're not going to believe this."

"Huh?" Kaiya whispered in surprise. "Guys, what are you doing here? How did you know where to…wait, Jagan, never mind. What are you doing here?"

"Kaiya," Hiei said cautiously. "There's something you need to know."

"Well, well, well," a male voice spoke up. "I thought I sensed demons nearby. And look, it's a party. I do enjoy parties."

Kaiya's face became white as a sheet, and Vegeta noticed fear in her eyes having heard the voice. "Impossible," she said before turning around. That was when she saw her human father. "You…you can't be here. You died."

Jiro glared at the girl and growled out, "Being killed isn't the same as dying."

"Like you have the right to talk," Yusuke scoffed. "I guess we should have realized you were tailing us."

"Um guys," Bulma said, "I'm sure you know what's going on, but none of us do, so care to explain?"

Kaiya looked over to Bulma, fear still evident in her eyes, as well as tears. Then it finally hit Vegeta.

"You're Jiro," he said quietly.

The man in question looked over to Vegeta. His face gave hints to the fact that he was appalled that Vegeta was even speaking to him. Then he gave the Saiyan a once over and recognition finally flashed on his face. At first, Jiro started chuckling before laughing manically. "I should have known that Lord Frieza's little memory erasing stunt wouldn't work. Wow, it's surprising how much you look like your father. Tell me, how exactly did you two come across each other."

"B-Bulma, wh-what is he talking about?" Gohan asked. "Does he know Vegeta and Kaiya?"

"Kid, you do not want to know," Bulma voiced with evident animosity. She couldn't believe that Jiro was alive again. Part of her wanted to know how it happened, but that didn't matter that moment. What did matter was that a man who cause the destruction of Planet Vegeta and Kaiya's death happened to return on the day the tyrant who tormented both of them and had killed Vegeta was about to land. She looked over to Vegeta and saw that he was barely reigning in his emotions and she could hardly blame him. If she had the strength Vegeta did, she'd want to rip this guy in half for what he had done to his child.

"You," Vegeta said darkly. "How dare you?" Vegeta was literally shaking with rage at the sight of the spineless coward in front of him. This was the man who suggested the destruction of Planet Vegeta to Frieza, the weakling that traded his daughter's life for protection against the space tyrant. "You caused his mess."

"What mess?" Jiro sneered at the Saiyan. He smirked, though, when he saw that his daughter still had her fearful eyes on him. He refrained from chuckling at the hold he had on her and the impression he had made. "I tried to clean up a mess. Too bad she managed to escape her death."

Kaiya cringed when she heard her father's hateful words. She had to shake her head to keep control of herself. "Wait," she heard Yamcha say, "you killed her?"

"Who the hell are you?" Jiro asked the human fighter. "No one of importance, I assume."

"Neither are you," Piccolo spoke up finally. "At least, not from what I can tell from your power level. You're even weaker than our weakest fighter."

"No," Kaiya responded. Now all eyes were on her, including Jiro's. She met his eyes were her gaze. "No, he's not. He has abilities you can't sense by sensing ki. The ability to fly, which isn't a big deal to you guys, but also to use electricity and to force one into attack and then having it backfire on them. It was the electricity that got me."

Both Hiei's and Vegeta's eyes widened, but for different reasons. Hiei was shocked that Kaiya was speaking so openly about her death. Months had gone by and this was the first time she was able to talk about it without hyperventilating or crying. The fire demon would have been a lot happier in this moment if the one who caused her inner turmoil wasn't standing right in front of them.

Vegeta, on the other hand, could not believe what Jiro had done, especially because he hadn't seen those memories. He now realized that the telepathy hadn't given him the full story. Also, she had stated that Jiro had used electrical attacks against her. From his time with Frieza, Vegeta knew very well that Saiyans and electricity did not mix well, though he did not know why.

Everyone froze and tensed for a split second as Frieza's energy got even closer and a ship came into view. "He's here!" Piccolo called out.

"Just great," Vegeta muttered under his breath. He saw recognition and fear flash on Jiro's face. Obviously knew the "he" in question that was landing on the planet. "You can sense energy too, can't you?"

"Humph, what's it to you, Saiyan?" Jiro questioned spitefully.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the man. He was about to retort when he saw Hiei rushing over to Kaiya. Worry consumed the older Saiyan when he saw his sister kneeling on the ground shaking slightly in fear.

"Kaiya, are you okay?" Hiei asked her seriously forcing her to look at him.

"Y-yeah," she lied. "It's just too much…Jiro, Frieza…both here at the same time. And that energy…there's no way that someone that strong exists."

"Well, it's been fun here, but I will be taking my leave," Jiro spoke up. He looked over to Kaiya. "But remember _daughter_, this isn't over."

Jiro disappeared in a flash leaving the spirit detective gang to process his threat. Hiei helped Kaiya up from the ground, the girl refusing to let go of him once they were standing. "Don't worry," Hiei said softly. "I will not let him hurt you again."

"You don't really have control over him, Hiei," Kaiya sighed, "but thank you. It means a lot."

"Okay, guys, seriously, what the hell just happened?" Yamcha asked.

Kaiya glared over to him, though it was more in annoyance. "Drop it," she snapped. "We have bigger things to worry about right now, or did you forget the sadistic space tyrant that just landed on our planet."

"Um guys?" Gohan spoke up looking over to where Frieza's ship had landed. "Did anyone else feel that new energy?"

"New energy?" Kuwabara questioned. "Look kid, I don't know what energy you're talking about. I have spiritual awareness and I didn't pick anything up."

"That's because it's not spirit or demon energy," Kaiya explained. "It's like actual energy that you can see. Some have the abilities to destroy planets with it, like Frieza does."

"Yeah right," Yusuke scoffed. "This I've gotta see."

"You're an idiot," Hiei muttered. "It's not something you want to see."

"Um, guys," Krillin interrupted, "that other energy just kind of took out Frieza and the other guys he was with."

"What?" Vegeta asked having been distracted from the battle by his sister's friends.

"We need to go check this out," Tien declared. "We have no idea who this guy is."

"Well, he took out Frieza," Kaiya replied. "He can't be too bad, right?"

"We don't know that," Piccolo told her. "Maybe it's better you stay here with your friends."

Kaiya frowned at the Namekian. "Look, I get that I was freaked out, but you can't exactly blame me when my kidnapper and murderer decided to show up at the exact same time…one of which happens to be my father."

"How is that possible if you're Vegeta's sister?" Yamcha asked.

"It's a long story," both Kaiya and Bulma said simultaneously.

"We'll hear it later," Piccolo muttered. "Let's go."

"Well, the green guy is cheery," Yusuke joked. Both Kaiya and Hiei flashed him a glare before following the Z fighters. The two fire demons looked to each other in silent conversation before nodding to each other. Kaiya smiled and decided to follow her brother in flight. The two of them stayed silent about the day's events, but knew they would be having a conversation later.

* * *

A few hours later and Kaiya and Hiei had returned to her apartment with Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Kuronue in tow. "You don't have to worry about me, guys," Kaiya sighed. "I'll be fine."

"Isn't that what you said last time?" Yusuke retorted. He instantly regretted it when he saw Kaiya's face become sad. "Oh come on, Kaiya…I didn't mean it like that."

"It's fine," Kaiya replied. She looked over to the rest of her friends and said, "Look, I'll be okay. Hiei is with me and Vegeta has been training me. But what about your families? Jiro knows all about all of you, remember? Kurama, your mother has no clue about any of this. He could easily introduce himself as my father and she would think none the wiser. Kuronue, Mayonaka and Alexia are living alone. He can easily track them both down. Yusuke, you have to worry about your mother and Keiko. Kuwabara has to worry about his sister." Kaiya hated pointing out all of these things and potential places her father could strike. "He's not above killing his own," she continued. "I don't trust him with Maya or Alexia, and I definitely don't trust him regarding all of your families, so please, just go. I'll make sure I lock the doors and windows, okay?"

No one said anything, all six of them staring back and forth between one another. Kuronue sighed and finally spoke up first. "Kurama, you really should get back to your mother, step-brother, and step-father. It's bad enough demons went after them in the past. I'm sure you want to avoid demon hunters cluing them in on your life."

"Yes, Kaiya makes and excellent point," Kurama agreed. He turned to face the girl, his serious and deadly expression never disappearing. "Are you sure you will be all right? I can leave plants here to defend in case Jiro does show up."

Kaiya nodded. "I can live with that. Thank you."

"Of course," Kurama replied before heading towards the door. He looked back to Kuronue who said to Kaiya, "I will make sure Mayonaka and Alexia are safe. If the bastard shows up, you'll be the first to know." He followed Kurama out of the apartment, both demons wanting to get to their loved ones to protect them from harm.

Hiei glared at Yusuke and Kuwabara. "Well? She said you could go, now go."

"Man, Hiei, if you wanted alone time with you girlfriend, you should just ask," Yusuke attempted to joke, although it sounded strained with worry. "We're only a phone call away if something happens."

"We know," Kaiya replied giving the two of them a quick hug. "Now go. You have families that need protecting."

"Yeah, yeah," Yusuke muttered, though he knew she was right. "Take care you two."

And then there were two left in the apartment, neither speaking as Hiei walked over to Kaiya and wrapped his arms around her. "We should get some rest."

"Right," Kaiya answered as they walked into her room. Neither knew that at the moment there was a Saiyan outside the apartment making sure that no human would be able to break in. "Well, today was crazy."

"Hn," Hiei scoffed with a bitter chuckle. "Understatement."

Kaiya let out a slight chuckle. "Yeah, I guess it is." After they had gone to where Frieza's ship was, the saw a teenager standing there. The boy had singlehandedly taken out Frieza, his father, and their soldiers and even said that Goku would be returning. They sat around waiting for the Saiyan's arrival while, as Kaiya noticed, the boy kept staring at Vegeta intently. Vegeta didn't react too well to being gawked at and snapped at the boy. The nameless teen just blushed and respectfully replied. Kaiya actually kind of liked the boy. He seemed very familiar to her.

Then Goku's ship had landed and he and the boy flew off further away to discuss something. It was revealed that Trunks could go Super Saiyan, as well as Goku. Kaiya could see in her brother's eyes the jealousy he felt towards both Saiyans. She had heard him talk many times about becoming a Super Saiyan and she knew that he desired the transformation more than anything. It was his dream and he strived for it, and she could understand that ideology. Her dream was something on a very minor scale, but she worked incredibly hard, passed her limits, to make it come true. It just meant that he was determined.

Goku then explained to everyone, with Piccolo who had overheard everything, that three years later, they would have to fight a bunch of androids and the boy came from a future where all the Z fighters died. The story was strange, but there was no way that Kaiya or her friends were going to stay out of something that would affect the entire human race. The group offered to help and they were scheduled to join the Z fighters in training starting that week.

Then they had returned to Kaiya's apartment, knowing that Jiro was out there now. Unfortunately now that one nuisance was gone, two more filled his place. It felt like they couldn't win. The truth was that things were going to get a lot more hectic. In fact, Hiei was supposed to be training with Vegeta the next day. Kaiya had wanted to tag along but both men told her they had things they needed to discuss. Still, neither liked the idea of her being alone, so Bulma had invited her to go with her to the Son household. Despite Vegeta's dislike towards the Son family, he knew his sister would be kept safe. He needed to test Hiei and he couldn't do it around his sister. This was a fight between men, and Vegeta was going to make sure Hiei was strong enough to be with his sister.

Speaking of which, outside Vegeta had found one unlocked window into another room in the apartment and went inside so he could lock it. He knew his sister wouldn't mind his presence there, but he still had no desire to be found. His chances for leaving were limited though because he didn't want to unlock anything and leave it unlocked.

"I just don't know what to do," he heard his sister say. His curiosity was peaked and he moved closer into the hallway to hear what she was saying and who she was talking to.

"It's going to be okay," Hiei's voice spoke up. The fire demon seemed uncharacteristically calm from the few times Vegeta had seen him. "We know that Jiro is the enemy this time. We won't randomly have another bombshell like that, nor will you be going out on you own to mope."

Kaiya scoffed, making Vegeta frown. Hiei was obviously insulting his sister somehow. He wished that he had known the full story, but with the news of the androids, he and Kaiya had not had the chance to talk. He still knew nothing about Jiro except that he was the one who suggest Planet Vegeta's destruction and that he had harmed his sister. Neither sat well with the prince, and had Kaiya not been traumatized by his arrival and Frieza had not been on the planet, Vegeta would not have given it a second thought to tear the man to shreds. At least he would have the opportunity again since the man had threatened his return.

He heard Kaiya sigh after a moment of silence. "I just didn't want to talk about it then, Hiei. I mean, what was I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry guys that my father wants to destroy all of you, but please don't hate me?'"

"Of course you didn't have to say that," Hiei growled. "Jiro used you to get information on us, however minor. You had NO idea that he knew us and recognized our names. You were just talking with you father as his daughter, not as someone plotting against us. How could we hate someone who went against her father just to stay with us, who was then terminated for making said choice? We never blamed you for any of it."

"I know," Kaiya replied with uncertainty. "It's just…how can you guys not even feel a little bit of animosity towards me. All of this is my fault."

Vegeta nearly growled at hearing his sister take blame for something she played no part in, but Hiei beat him to the punch. "Listen to me," he said sternly. "I'm only going to say this once. Jiro caused all of this. He's the one that toyed with your life. You were a baby, and he traded you over to some sick fuck that tormented people, including children, for a living. You did not 'cause' any of this. It was all his actions. He may have blamed you for it, but believe me when I say there is nothing you could have done to change what he did. He would have made the decisions regardless of whether it was you or someone else. Do NOT blame yourself for his misdeeds."

"H-Hiei," Kaiya stuttered. Vegeta could hear the strain I his sister's voice and he knew she was crying. His thoughts were confirmed as he started to hear the sobs. He heard shuffling of blankets and moved closer to the door. There he saw Kaiya curled into her boyfriend, sobbing against his chest as he awkwardly patted her back.

"Sh, Kaiya," he whispered softly. "I'm here, and you are safe. I swear to you that no one will lay a finger on you as long as I am still breathing."

Kaiya looked up to her boyfriend, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Hiei grimaced at her and Vegeta thought that it had something to do with the fact that she was crying at all. Then Hiei started wiping her tears away so gently that Vegeta realized that it couldn't be that. "Please stop," Hiei said with a hoarse voice. "You know I can't stand it when either of you cry."

Kaiya choked back on a half-sobbed laugh. "I'm sorry," she said while trying to dry her face. "I really do try not to."

"You don't have to apologize," Hiei reiterated. "I just don't like it."

Vegeta clenched his fists. Even though he too couldn't stand his sister showing any kind of weakness, he still dealt with it as kindly as he could being a hardened killed. He felt enraged at the fact that his sister's boyfriend was treating her with disrespect for showing weakness. As a Saiyan princess, she did not deserve it. It was not her fault she was raised on a weak planet such as Earth. But then he softened when he heard Kaiya ask, "You're never going to get over Yukina's kidnapping, are you?"

Hiei sighed in frustration and shook his head. "The only reason I didn't kill that bastard was because she stopped me. I still have the desire, but seeing as he was killed by Toguro, I'll never get that chance. Of course I will never get over it. I couldn't find her, Kaiya. He blocked my ability to track her as he tortured her for her tears. Even if yours don't crystalize like an ice maiden's, I still can't stand tears because it just reminds me that I had failed my sister for those months. I should have been there to protect her, but instead I had to cause trouble in Human World that Koenma imprisoned me for."

Kaiya placed her finger on Hiei's lips, effectively silencing him. "You were in a different place then," she said with complete understanding. "And Yukina is safe now at Genkai's, completely protected from all outside forces. Tarukane is gone and no one is coming after her for her tears again, and even if they did, believe me, they have an army to get through. None of us will let anyone hurt her."

Hiei's hand found Kaiya's, their fingers laced together as he pulled her in for a short kiss. "Thank you," he whispered against her lips. "Now, about all of this other craziness…"

Kaiya shook her head. "I don't know what to think. I mean, I just started believing aliens existed, and now time travel and androids…it was so much simpler with crazy demons running around."

"Are you worried?" Hiei asked delicately.

"Actually, no not really," Kaiya answered honestly. "I'm more worried about Jiro. I mean, androids are just machines, right?"

Hiei shrugged. "You are asking the wrong demon," he muttered. "This is the stuff from those science fiction movies Suki loved so much."

"Hey, I like sci-fi, too," Kaiya defended. "Just not the alien and predator movies. They were way too long and gross."

"Humans are strange," Hiei confirmed. "So far with alien races I have not seen aliens that reproduce using humans in some strange parasitic relationship."

Kaiya laughed, now completely relaxed. "Very true," she chirped with a smile before leaning against Hiei again. "Good night, koi," she cooed as she felt his fingers massaging her scalp and running them through her hair.

"Good night," he whispered back to her as he let her go. She whimpered slightly, not wanting to be alone, but he just stroked her hair. "I'll be back. Just going to make sure my window is locked. I don't want you leaving it unlocked anymore, got it?"

Kaiya nodded. "I'll give you Mika's old key in the morning. Hm, maybe I should give Vegeta Suki's key so he can check up on me too."

Hiei simply nodded before leaving the room. He was not shocked that Vegeta was standing face to face with him in the hallway. The fire demon motioned for Vegeta to follow him into the room where the unlocked window had been and shut the door.

"If you have any questions you better ask them now before out fight tomorrow," Hiei stated.

Vegeta's brow quirked in amusement. "And you knew I was going to challenge you how?" he asked.

"My Jagan eye allows me telepathic abilities," Hiei explained. "It's how I was able to track Kaiya down earlier, and how I am able to hold conversations with her. It is also how I was able to read your mind on what you plans were for tomorrow, and why I agreed that Kaiya should not be there to witness it."

"Interesting," Vegeta replied curtly. "Kaiya has telepathic abilities as well. How?"

Hiei shrugged. "Her demon ancestor. It's in her blood. Now, is there anything you want to ask?"

"No," Vegeta scoffed. "I've heard enough. Tomorrow will answer my remaining questions."

Hiei smirked. "Fair enough. I will see you out, unless you want to stay. This is usually the room I stay in when I am here, but Kaiya does not want to be alone."

"What are your intentions with her?" Vegeta bit out in irritation. He did not like the idea of Hiei sharing a bed with his sister.

"Relax," Hiei said calmly. "We've shared a bed before, and we've never taken that step. Tonight will not be that night. As for my intentions with you sister, I will only say this once to you, as she has only heard it once. I love her, and even if I don't say it, she knows it. I make sure that she does."

"You better," Vegeta grunted. "I will stay."

Hiei nodded. "I'll let her know. Good night."

Hiei left the room and Vegeta felt something strange. He couldn't help but actually like Hiei's attitude. The demon stood up to him, never backing down, and admitted that he was more similar to him. The Saiyan prince hated to admit it, but if anyone was better suited for her sister, it would be him…provided he was strong. Vegeta would not allow a weakling to mate his sister. The Saiyan smirked again thinking about the next day. Oh yes, tomorrow would give him his answer, and he was looking forward to it.

* * *

A/N: Last chapter was filler, this one was plot development. Next bonding and training and Kaiya meets Goku :D


	9. Chapter 8 - Unexpected Friendships

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, DBZ, or the characters…only my OCs

* * *

If there was one thing Kaiya hated, it was long car rides, and being really high up in an airplane that could fall out of the sky at any minute, so driving in some type of cramped air car with Bulma in the mountains was not her idea of a good time. Kaiya would have rather flown, but she had no idea how to get there, and she was still learning how to control her ki for flight. Still, she kept silent the majority of the ride while ignoring the concerned looks Bulma flashed her way.

"So, this Kakarot guy…why does my brother hate him so much?" Kaiya asked Bulma in attempts to break the awkward silence.

Bulma sighed in frustration before answering the young girl. "Well, he says Goku is a 'low-class warrior' and the fact that he was defeated by him pisses him off. Also, Goku became a Super Saiyan first, so that's another thing that bothers your brother."

"Super Saiyan?" Kaiya asked, intrigued by that. Her brother had not told her about the legend yet, and that actually surprised Bulma.

"Yeah…he trains so hard to try to reach that level," Bulma explained. "Keep this between us, but I sometimes worry about how he trains in the GR. He's going to hurt himself if he doesn't take a break. I mean, he rarely sleeps."

Kaiya didn't know what to say to that, so she just nodded and watched the trees yield to rocky mountaintops down below them. She understood the reason Vegeta hated to sleep. It was pretty much the same reason she had trouble sleeping. Dreams of the past and memories would keep Kaiya up at night, if she could even wake up from the dream. Usually Hiei had to force her awake if he was there and that alone left her even more exhausted. But she did worry about Vegeta, and would have to have a conversation with him at some point. Maybe he would listen to her if she told him to take a break. She had some ideas on things they could do and trips they could take.

Eventually, the mountains became a forested area again and Bulma's air car started its descent. A small home could be seen in the middle of the forest, invisible to anyone that flew overhead. Kaiya assumed it was Goku's, or Kakarot's house. Even though Bulma kept calling him Goku, Kaiya felt like she needed to respect her brother and call the other Saiyan by his Saiyan name.

When the car landed, Gohan and Goku came outside both with smiling faces. Kaiya smiled shyly, having only seen Goku when he returned and not interacting with him. Now he was welcoming her into his home for the day, and she was thankful. It was much safer than being alone at her apartment. Kaiya stepped out of the air car, thankful to be stretching her legs. She looked over to see the smiling faces of her brother's rival and his son, shy smiling back at them.

"Hi there," Goku greeted. "So my son and Bulma have been talking about a Kaiya. I guess that's you. Sorry we weren't really introduced yesterday."

"That's okay," Kaiya replied. "A lot was going on yesterday. I just wanted to go home."

Goku frowned slightly and said, "Yeah, my son told me what happened right before I landed…not to mention Frieza being there. You okay?"

Kaiya nodded ad looked down, still not sure how she felt. She had spent a long time trying to get over how Jiro had attacked her. Sometimes she could still remember the feeling of the electricity destroying her from the inside. Looking up, she saw Goku and Bulma staring at her with both worry and confusion. "Um, yeah, I'm fine," Kaiya lied. Truthfully, she hated those flashback moments, especially when she checked out of reality for a moment. Had she been driving a car, she would hate to think of the outcome. Usually, if they could, her friends would try to shake her out of it before something bad happened. "It was just a shock, I guess. It's been almost a year…"

"I kind of wish it had been longer than that," Bulma spoke up. "If they had waited just a bit longer, then they wouldn't have been able to. You can only wish someone who has been dead a year back to life on Earth's Dragon Balls."

Realization dawned on Goku when they were talking about the year. "You mean to tell me that when everything happened with your father happened the same time we fought Frieza on Namek?"

"I…guess?" Kaiya replied unsurely. "Vegeta doesn't know when it happened, nor did he tell me when you guys were on Namek. I've heard random stories. Why, is there something I should know?"

Goku and Bulma looked to each other nervously before Gohan ran over to Kaiya and took her hand. "I want to show you something," he said. "Do you like climbing trees?"

Kaiya smiled at the little boy and nodded. "I love climbing trees," she admitted. "Let's go."

Gohan took off somewhere with Kaiya looking back at his father before engaging himself in a race with her. Bulma looked to Goku and sighed. "Someone has to tell her about what happened on Namek."

"That someone has to be Vegeta," Goku replied. "He wouldn't like it if we told his sister what Frieza did to him."

"I know you're right, but what it's sounding like…did the two of them die at the same time?" Bulma asked her friend.

"I don't know for sure, but that's what it's sounding like," Goku answered. "I guess we'll find out when they both open up."

Bulma wanted to bang her head against a wall when he said that. If that's what they were waiting on, it would never happen. Vegeta would never fully open up, and Kaiya obviously still had issues talking about what happened to her. Her curiosity was going to have to be left unsettled for a while as they waited for the two royal Saiyans to heal.

* * *

Vegeta found Hiei working on his swordsmanship and then watched as he made sure the sword was sharp and polished. Hiei definitely seemed like a noble warrior, which was one point in his favor, but the Saiyan prince still didn't trust him with his sister's life or heart especially when his sister's murderer was at large. They still needed to choose where they would be fighting so that they would have no interruptions, but before Vegeta could go discuss that with the fire demon, someone walked up to him. It looked like Kaiya, but he knew his sister was up in the mountains with Bulma and Kakarot.

"What do you want, Mayonaka?" he heard Hiei ask. The fire demon didn't once look up at the girl or away from his sword. Vegeta caught himself wondering what Hiei's and Mayonaka's history was. It was clear that Hiei didn't like the girl much.

"I wanted to see how Kaiya was holding up," she stated. "Kuronue told me and Alexia last night, so I kind of snuck out this morning to check up on her."

"You need to stop," Hiei muttered. "You should not be 'sneaking out' with your father running freely. Do you have any idea what it would do to Kaiya if she lost you to him? She's still not over what happened to her."

Mayonaka glared at the fire demon. "Of course I know! It nearly killed me when I saw my twin lying dead. Just because we have our problems doesn't mean I don't love my sister."

Hiei then glared at Mayonaka. "Try that again when you weren't the cause of both of you being hospitalized when we met."

"You can't let things go, can you?" Mayonaka asked bitterly. "Kaiya did."

Hiei frowned at her. "Kaiya knows that this is how I feel. She is too forgiving. If she could get over my past, then of course she would forgive her siblings for anything, and she could even end up forgiving Jiro."

"She wouldn't," Mayonaka stated. "I can't forgive him either."

"Neither can I."

The two didn't speak for a moment before Mayonaka asked, "That's why you can't forgive me, isn't it? And why I can't forgive Jiro? Because we caused her pain before."

"You catch on quick," Hiei scoffed. Then he sighed. "Look, go back to the apartment and don't go anywhere without Kuronue. I'll stay focused on your energy until you get home. If I sense Jiro anywhere near you, I'll be on top of it."

"Thanks," Mayonaka muttered. "And for what it's worth, I am truly sorry."

"I know," Hiei admitted. "But as you said, I cannot let things go."

Mayonaka nodded in response. "I'll see you at the next get together." She started walking back to hers and her cousin's apartment, looking back at Hiei only once. His eyes were trained on her as he nodded for her to keep going. After she was out of eye and earshot, Vegeta walked over to Hiei.

"I demand to know what that was about," Vegeta declared.

Hiei just looked up at him before getting up off of the ground. "When Mayonaka showed up, she was an enemy sent by her boyfriend's alternate self to kill us. She and Kaiya fought. Kaiya won, but both of them were in bad shape with many broken bones. Mayonaka is like the brattier version of Kaiya, and incredibly annoying. She seems to forget that she impersonated Kaiya to try and convince me and acted incredibly clingy. I knew it was her right away, because that's not the kind of relationship I had with Kaiya. At the time, we hadn't even termed each other 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' yet. Human interactions continue to baffle and irritate me, but Kaiya doesn't seem to force that stuff on me."

Vegeta nodded. He too hated listening to the woman go on about human social conventions. Her relationship with the weakling left a bitter taste when hearing what they affectionately call each other.

"We usually don't call each other 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' either, just nicknames. I call her 'onna,' which used to annoy her." Hiei chuckled at the memory. "She thought I was being sexist and would argue with me about it all the time. Now she calls me one of two names, 'firebug' or 'koi.' I prefer the latter only because I hate 'firebug.' She usually only calls me that when she's trying to start something."

"Why are you telling me any of this?" Vegeta asked skeptically. "You seem like someone who wouldn't want to discuss anything with anyone."

Hiei shrugged. "I thought you would want full disclosure about our relationship," Hiei answered stoically. "Isn't that what today is all about? You want to test me to see if I'm right to protect her, and that means emotionally as well."

Vegeta was slightly taken aback by the answer. He was about to ask Hiei, even though he knew he had telepathic abilities, how he got so much information. "You are strong, Vegeta, but your mental block is not. I'm surprised Kaiya has not been able to pick up on more of your past, although she is new to telepathy and still working on it, which explains how she linked you two together in the mind scanners."

"It's a complete invasion of privacy!" Vegeta shouted. "How dare you?"

"Get over it," Hiei growled, glaring at the prince. "I needed to make sure she was safe, and if that means occasionally reading your mind, you have to get over it because I am only doing my job to keep her safe. Isn't that what you want?"

Vegeta knew they were pretty much at a stalemate with this battle of words, so he just scoffed and said, "Where are we fighting?"

"It's a short distance from here if you fly and I run," Hiei answered. "It's where Kaiya and I train privately. Only our friends know of it, and they never got there after the last time. It would irritate me to know end if they did, and they know that Kaiya nor I will tolerate interruptions when we are there."

Hiei sheathed his katana and started running in the direction of the beach, stopping at the edge of the apartment complex and looking back as an invitation for Vegeta to follow him. Vegeta took off to the air and followed Hiei a secluded section on a beach so quickly that no human would have been able to even see a blur. Vegeta looked around the hidden sector of sand and felt at peace in the spot.

"Kaiya loves it here," Hiei said almost in wonder. "As a fire demon, I really don't get it, but she does."

"Saiyans are in tune with nature," Vegeta said curtly, "though our home planet was more desert than anything else, so this ocean stuff is foreign to me at times."

"Well, looks like we have something else in common," Hiei replied with a smirk. Vegeta look at him with an expression ordering an explanation. "Not only were we raised by creeps, and care for our sisters, but we can't understand this 'ocean stuff.'" Hiei was surprised when he heard Vegeta chuckle with him. Then Hiei grew serious and started walking away from Vegeta. The Saiyan looked to the fire demon, trying to gage was he was doing. "And there's another thing. We both care about Kaiya a great deal, and we both want to protect her from that bastard, so let's get to this. The sooner it's over, the sooner we can get back to her."

Vegeta scoffed again. "I will be going back to her, and you will only go with me if you can prove yourself to me."

Hiei and Vegeta stared at each other at the sea breeze blew around them. Neither of them was planning on making the first move. A bird screeched overhead, something Vegeta had never heard before, and he look up for less than a second only to return his gaze to the fire demon who was no longer in the spot.

Then Vegeta sensed Hiei's energy behind him and blocked as a fist nearly hit him in the spine. Hiei disappear with a flash again, the two of them exchanging fast blows. Vegeta was surprised by Hiei's speed and it dawned on him that that was why Kaiya moved so quickly, even if it was primarily defense. The Saiyan knew he wouldn't match Hiei's speed which irritated him, but he grinned at the prospect of it getting increasingly difficult to block Hiei's blows. Eventually, Vegeta got hit in the gut, though it didn't hurt nor did it push him back.

Hiei frowned at that and drew his katana, making rapid attempts to land another hit on Vegeta. Vegeta chuckled as he sensed Hiei's energy increasing, most likely with frustration. The fire demon was indeed trying to prove himself, but he knew that Vegeta was now toying with him. What he didn't know was that Vegeta was already impressed. It was clear that Hiei never had any proper training, save swordsmanship, but he was a decent fighter, and even if the hit hadn't fazed Vegeta, the hit would definitely have torn any human, including Jiro, to shreds.

When Hiei couldn't make a hit, he growled and sheathed his sword again before his fists were covered in flames. Vegeta grinned and powered up so that his blue ki flashing around him. "This 'battle' has been quite entertaining," Vegeta jeered as he watched Hiei's eye light up with rage. He knew it was probably a bad idea to anger the fire demon, but he made it too easy. "What are you waiting for?" Vegeta continued to taunt. "Finish me, that is, if you can."

He smirked as Hiei growled and launched himself at him. Vegeta grabbed Hiei's arms before his flaming fists made contact with his skin. He purposefully let go when Hiei kicked himself off of him. The poor fire demon had no idea that Vegeta was completely holding the strings of this battle. The Saiyan watched as the fire demon breathed heavily with rage. He looked at Hiei strangely when he started unwrapping the bandage around his dominant hand.

"You should be honored," Hiei said darkly. "I only grace those I deem worthy with this move." Vegeta then noticed a black dragon looking tattoo on Hiei's arm. "I hope you're prepared to handle the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

Vegeta felt an overwhelming surge of power as a purple and black flame encased his right arm before growing at an alarming rate. The flame was definitely not fully controlled, but Hiei had enough of a grasp on it that it wouldn't take control of either of them, for the moment at least. As Hiei's arm shook with the increasing power of the flames, Vegeta began to charge his ki for his own signature attack.

Hiei cried out as he unleashed the flames as Vegeta called out, "Galick Gun!" The two energies clashed, both fluctuating in and out of control, though Vegeta clearly had more control of his move.

"I will not lose to you," Hiei growled much to Vegeta's amusement. "I won't lose the only person I ever fully trusted. I will not give up what we worked so hard to build."

Vegeta frowned when he heard this. The boy didn't get the point of this battle. Did Hiei really believe that Vegeta would bar him from seeing Kaiya again? _So that's why he opened up so much…_

Vegeta put more energy into his attack to fully tear through the Dragon of Darkness Flame. The flames dissipated as Hiei was forced back from the blast and the Dragon returning to his arm. He crashed into a rock clenching his fists as he had the wind knocked out of him. As he focused on catching his breath, especially after using the one attack that would leave him drained after battle, Vegeta walked up to him, arms crossed.

"I lost," Hiei grumbled, still huffing.

Vegeta nodded to him. "You did, but your skills were impressive."

"But it wasn't enough," Hiei snarled at the Saiyan, looking up at him defiantly. Vegeta did not let a single emotion peak out as he saw the anger, hurt, and disappointment shining in the fire demon's eyes. He looked away from Vegeta and sighed before weakly standing up, slightly hobbling as he walked. "Tell her that I'm sorry," he requested.

"No," Vegeta replied. Hiei was about to turn around and scream at the Saiyan but he saw Vegeta staring at him with authority. "There is no need for that. I told you that your skills were impressive. All that I will require of you is to train with me to get better control. You'll do fine against her human father, but if we ever deal with another alien attack, I cannot guarantee you'd be able to hold your own."

"Wait, what?" Hiei asked causing Vegeta to smirk and chuckle. The fire demon narrowed his eyes at the Saiyan. "What's so funny?"

"Did you really think that I was going to break you two up if you lost?" the Saiyan taunted. "That's not how out culture works. Ultimately it's her decision; however, all I needed to do, as the only male family figure who can judge these things, was make sure that he mate could protect her. As long as you accept training with me on occasion, you will have no interference from me."

Relief flooded Hiei as he nodded his agreement. Vegeta smirked at him again, shaking his head. "I will never understand you Earthlings," he stated. "You take everything so seriously?"

Hiei scoffed. "We do? What about you?"

Vegeta slightly glared at Hiei, but noticed the boy smirking. Hiei was teasing him in the same belittling manner Vegeta was, but it was not meant to be taken offensively. Again, he could see the similarities between Hiei and himself. Then he realized there was more he wanted and needed to know about Kaiya and his expression grew serious again. "So…" he started awkwardly. "What exactly happened between Kaiya and that bastard?"

The aura around Hiei darkened, his fists clenching, this time in rage. Vegeta remained emotionless as he watched the emotions flash on Hiei's face. "I…I can't even tell you that without the desire to destroy something taking over," Hiei admitted. "You would not be happy with the story."

"I know," Vegeta replied. "I just need to know."

Hiei sighed in frustration. "You may want to sit," he said as he himself sat down Indian-style on the sand. Vegeta took a seat on the rock, still looking down at the fire demon as he sighed again and stared directly at the sad. He refused to meet Vegeta gaze.

"He is a demon hunter," Hiei began to explain. "Kaiya did not know this as she told her father the names of her friends. He hadn't met us, but we are all quite famous in Demon World. Our political status in Demon World, as well as our famed strength is apparently well known in both the Makai and with the demon hunters."

"Makai?" Vegeta asked.

Hiei shrugged. "Another name for Demon World. Anyways, I heard a joke Kaiya was telling about her cousins, and having dealt with Mayonaka, I thought they would hurt her. I followed her to America, where she's from, and realized that her cousins were just children and it was more of fighting for fun than actual damage. Then Jiro showed up unexpectedly with her little brother and things were just off. Our friends, who had arrived before Jiro had, felt it too. Kaiya just assumed it was her being paranoid…her and Jiro never had a good relationship, even before this.

"Kaiya told us many stories, and pretty much all we could take from them was that Jiro was not very supportive of any decisions she made and was never there for her. She had a nightmare, more of a premonition, of her death. She was screaming in her sleep and it was incredibly hard to wake her, so we knew it wasn't a normal dream. We were concerned, but before we can come up with a solution, Jiro showed up and distracted us from the conversation. Then it came out that Jiro was a demon hunter after the girls got kidnapped by a few. Totally kicked their asses." Hiei smirked with pride at that. "He gave Kaiya the option to join him and she refused. He pretty much disowned her publically at that point, and it hurt her."

Hiei paused and Vegeta couldn't understand why until he saw his eyes darken. "He called both of his daughters 'collateral damage,'" he stated bitterly. "Kaiya didn't know how to handle the fact that her own father was trying to kill her. She was outside, alone…and I went to talk to her. She was so distraught, and I attempted to comfort her. She just asked me to leave her a few minutes." Hiei's voice was starting to sound strained, his energy fluctuating rapidly with his anger an anxiety as he remembered that night. "I was stupid…I shouldn't have left her alone, whether or not she asked me to. I should have stayed."

Hiei needed to take a break from the story, but Vegeta would not have it. "I demand you tell me what happened."

Hiei flashed a look of displeasure over to Vegeta. "Do you think this is easy for me to tell you?" Hiei snapped. "You're lucky I've gotten as much as I have. I haven't spoken to anyone about that night. Even when Kaiya was upset about it and I had to listen, I never spoke. I couldn't, because it would only hurt her more knowing I blame myself or that I wish I had just tortured the bastard and not have killed him as quickly as I did…that he deserved to suffer for doing what he had."

"I still don't have the answers that I'm looking for," Vegeta responded. "I deserve to know what happened to my sister."

Hiei's expression softened as he thought about Yukina and how Spirit World had kept him in the dark about her kidnapping. It was a different situation since Spirit World didn't feel as pained as he was feeling now, but Vegeta was right. He did deserve to know everything.

"I heard her call out for me," he continued, "using telepathy. I always kept a connection with her. I rushed out to help her, but by the time I got there…she was already writhing on the ground, screaming the same as she was when she had the nightmare. It had been raining, and she was soaked. When the electricity hit her…I can't even imagine the pain she was in. I can still remember the sound of her screaming. It's almost painful sometimes…"

Vegeta looked on in pity as he saw the light in Hiei's eyes go out before rage flashed in again. "Human doctors are idiots. They couldn't do anything…we couldn't either, but they were as stupid as they come. The guy we were dealing with was asking if any of us were related to her while Mayonaka was standing RIGHT THERE! I couldn't even believe he had a license that gave him the authority to save her.

"They brought in some 'crash cart' or whatever they call them, and attempted to start her stopped heart. I…I had never felt so much fear before in my life, and then when they stopped trying…I was out for blood."

Hiei shot up from the sand and yelled out in anger as he ran and punched another large rock with his flaming fist. "And he said she deserved it!" he yelled. "She was innocent in all of this!" Another rock shattered from his kick. "She never asked for the powers she had!" He hit two more rocks, the grey masses cracking slowly before collapsing. "She couldn't even fight back because he was her father, and she refuses to fight family!" Hiei shook his head as he worked on reigning in his rage. Vegeta watched the boy, silently awed as he just stared at Hiei. "I…we…we were watching her die," he whispered. "I was so in shock that someone would even dare to harm her, especially someone who was supposed to care. I never had the luxury of family, but I knew how she felt towards hers. He took advantage of that, and just smiled as he watched her dying from his own attack. And I always believed that I was heartless. I could never abandon or harm my own child. I can't even comprehend…"

Hiei didn't finish his statement. He still couldn't come to grips with what happened. "We didn't know about her dormant demon powers…we didn't have any Dragon Balls. For all we knew, she was gone for good. We went after him, and then Kaiya's demon energy took over. She came to us and we all fought Jiro and his men together. She attacked him, and he was weakened, but he was still alive and made his move to attack and threaten her again. I stabbed him…though I wanted to torture him…but I couldn't do that to Kaiya, and I couldn't let her get hurt again. So I took his life, and I did not regret it one bit."

Hiei turned to face Vegeta, both looking stern as ever as they stared each other in the eye. "That is what happened."

Vegeta nodded his sincere thanks. After seeing the display, he realized that it was truly hard for the fire demon to relive that night. He looked around at the rock-littered beach. Hiei was now looking away from him, re-wrapping his arm from their battle and grabbing his sword. The fire demon began to walk away when Vegeta's voice stopped him.

"Believe me," Vegeta stated evenly. "After what that sorry excuse for a man has done to both Kaiya and our home, he will not be escaping death a second time. I expect to see you and Kaiya tomorrow for training at Capsule Corp."

"We'll be there," Hiei agreed before flitting off and returning to Kaiya's apartment.

Vegeta, now alone on the beach turned to the rock he had been sitting on. He narrowed his eyes at the solid boulder before destroying it in a similar fashion as Hiei. Flashes of light shot around the beach that even passersby would have seen it. After unleashing his built up rage, he flew off towards his temporary home to finish distressing in the GR.

* * *

Kaiya and Gohan were both climbing trees, making Kaiya feel like a kid again. She was finally starting to calm down from the day before as she chatted with the young Saiyan. The two of them seemed to share a love of nature and animals, and spent the afternoon exchanging stories. And then both of them grew quiet. The entire forest grew quiet.

The feeling was not unfamiliar to Kaiya. Her eyes shifted back and forth as she attempted to remember where this feeling had come from before. Then she gasped as it hit her yet again. "No," she breathed out.

Gohan looked at her strangely, also feeling a little leery. "Kaiya?"

Before the boy knew, he was pushed out of the tree as both he and Kaiya plummeted to the ground and a blast of lightning shot through the treetop. Both demi-Saiyans looked up as the lightning lingered. A cracking branch brought their attention to Jiro who had been stalking Kaiya the majority of the day.

"Jiro," Kaiya breathed out, quickly getting to her feet. Gohan was even quicker to get up, crouching down into his fighting stance. It hit Kaiya that Gohan was nearly hit by an attack that had killed her once. "Oh my God," she said in a whisper. "What the hell were you thinking?" she asked in more of a shot.

"I was thinking that I was just about to eliminate you, again," he teased with a smirk.

"I know what you were thinking of doing to me," Kaiya stated truthfully. "But did you even consider that I had a child next to me? You could have gotten us both with that attack."

Jiro shrugged. "Just more collateral damage," he replied nonchalantly.

Kaiya frowned and shook her head. "I don't even know who you are anymore," she told him. "To hurt me is one thing, but to hurt a child who has nothing to do with us…you're a monster."

"I'm your father," he said grinning even more.

"Don't remind me," Kaiya muttered. "I spent the last year trying to get over that factoid."

Jiro's amusement disappeared as he frowned at her, but then a voice called his attention away from her.

"Hey!" the voice snapped. Out of nowhere, Goku landed in front of both Kaiya and Gohan. "So you're the guy that showed up yesterday," he acknowledged.

Jiro seemed confused by the new arrival, but regained his composure and cleared his throat. "I am," he admitted. "And I don't know who you are, but if you don't mind getting your ass out of the way so I can take out my traitorous daughter, then we won't have a problem."

Goku's eyes narrowed, his features hardened, and Kaiya seemed completely taken aback by the upbeat Saiyan's change in attitude from earlier. "I suggest you leave," he threatened slightly.

"Or what?" Jiro all but growled.

"You just attacked my son and my friend," Goku stated. "From what I've learned about my race, you do not want to anger a Saiyan or attack their loved ones."

"You're a Saiyan?" Jiro asked in shock. He looked in between the three Saiyans standing in front of him. "That's impossible. There's only the prince, my daughter, and the one who defeated-" And then Jiro stopped talking as realization and fear sunk in.

"Yes, I defeated Frieza on Namek," Goku told him. "I don't want to fight you, but if you threaten my family, then I will."

Jiro looked over to Kaiya who was holding her arm, shrinking inside herself. He glared at the girl before scoffing. "You monkeys aren't even worth my time." He looked back over to Kaiya. "In the end, you will lose your life again. I will make sure of it." Jiro used his wind manipulating abilities to propel himself out of the forest. Everyone was safe, for the moment.

Goku was relieved and turned to face Gohan and Kaiya, but Kaiya had already sunk to the ground. Her eyes were wide as she started at a spot on in front of her. Tears began to form in her eyes as she whispered, "He didn't even care that he was going to kill someone else's child."

Goku knelt down beside and put his hand on her shoulder, his smile returning. "Hey, don't worry about it," he told her, his voice light and comforting. "He wouldn't have gotten away with it, and the important thing is that you and Gohan are okay."

Kaiya looked at Goku. "But Kakarot…Jiro wouldn't have come here if I hadn't. I just put you and your family in danger. How can you not be mad at me?"

"Because you did nothing wrong," the older Saiyan replied. "It was Jiro's decision to come after you, and I took on the responsibility of protecting you for the day. Besides, you saved my son from that attack. I can't be made at you."

Kaiya nodded, but still didn't agree with him. "I…I want to go back home now," Kaiya told him.

Goku nodded and stood up, holding out his hand to help Kaiya up. Kaiya accepted the help and the three of them walked back to the small house where Bulma was waiting with Chi Chi. Occasionally, Kaiya would look back into the woods at the tree that she and Gohan had climbed. It broke her heart when she saw the blackened singe marks on the branches, the leaves blackened and dead as well. The entire walk back, all she could think was, _It would have been the second time, and Gohan's death had I not gotten us out of that tree. _She frowned and watched the spot even as she flew out in the air car with Bulma. _What kind of a heartless monster does that?_


	10. Chapter 9 - Training Mishaps

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just my OCs.

This is by far the longest chapter I have written. I hope you'll still find it entertaining and not dragged out. A lot happens in this chapter.

* * *

Bulma landed her air car outside Kaiya's home. Once parked, Kaiya got out of the car and started walking away. "Are you sure you're okay?" Bulma asked the quiet girl.

Kaiya sighed before turning to face the older woman. She could tell that Bulma was worried about her, so she forced a smile in attempts to play off how she was feeling. "Yeah," she lied. "I'm fine. I'll see you soon, okay?"

Bulma was still hesitant to leave Kaiya alone, but she started her air car again. "Okay," she replied before taking off again for her home. Kaiya watched as she left and walked into the space outside of her apartment. Her hands were shaky causing her to drop her keys. She muttered a curse as she went to pick them up, her front door opening revealing a very confused Hiei.

"I thought you were going to be gone all day," he stated. "What happened?"

"Jiro," Kaiya replied. Hiei's expression darkened as they went inside.

"I repeat my question," Hiei said after they sat down on the couch. "What happened?" Kaiya shook her head, reluctant to tell her easily angered boyfriend about what her father had done. "Kaiya," Hiei sighed, "you are obviously upset by this. Tell me what happened." It sounded like a demand, but Kaiya understood that Hiei was simply concerned about her wellbeing.

"Okay," Kaiya surrendered. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for Hiei's reaction. "Jiro attacked me today." Rage flashed in Hiei's eyes and he was about to flash out of there any second, but Kaiya put her hand on his clenched fist. "I got out of the way in time. I was more upset that Gohan nearly got hit."

"What?" Hiei asked, though he wasn't shocked that Jiro would attack anyone that got in his way.

"Yeah," Kaiya muttered. "When I confronted him about it, he said Gohan would have just been 'collateral damage.'"

"Hn," Hiei scoffed with a bitter chuckle. "Unbelievable. Figures, though."

"What?" Kaiya asked. Hiei just looked away from her, shaking his head. "Hiei, please tell me. What did you mean by that?"

Hiei sighed in frustration mentally berating himself for even mentioning it. He was still upset from reliving his own pain of Kaiya's death with Vegeta earlier. He never wanted Kaiya to know about this. "Just leave it alone, Kaiya. You don't need to know. It would only add to your pain, and I refuse to tell you."

Kaiya frowned, both insulted and irritated that Hiei wouldn't tell her. "You think I'm too weak to handle it," she accused. "You think I'll break and be as devastated as I was."

"You're wrong," Hiei assured her. "I do not think you are weak. Far from it actually. And you didn't 'break.' Your reaction was perfectly justified, all things considered. I just know that telling you this will not make situation. If anything, it will make you feel worse."

"Hiei," Kaiya nearly whined. "I know it won't make me feel better, but I want to know. I have the right to know, don't I?"

Hiei was starting to feel like his hands were tied, but he still didn't want to tell her. "Of course you do, but tell me this. Do you want to be upset by this on a day where you're already upset."

"Yes," Kaiya said adamantly. "I'm already upset. It can't be much worse than him trying to take my life for a second time as well as the life of a child."

"True," Hiei admitted reluctantly. He looked into Kaiya's hopeful eyes and knew that he had lost. "Ugh, fine," he muttered. He then took Kaiya's hand and attempted to soften his voice. "When you girls got kidnapped, he said that you and Mayonaka were 'collateral damage.'"

"I know," Kaiya replied.

"You do?" Hiei asked in shock, his grip on her hand tightening. "How? I never…"

"Kurama told me," Kaiya explained. "And even if he hadn't told me, I wouldn't have been surprised if you had told me what he said. He always said stupid stuff like that. You get used to it after a while."

"You shouldn't have had to get used to it," Hiei growled, a scowl on his face.

"No, I shouldn't have," Kaiya sighed. "But at least I know when I actually have kids, they'll be loved by the both of us."

Kaiya grinned as color appeared on Hiei's cheeks and his mouth gaped open and closed like a fish a few times. He was struck speechless by her remark. Kaiya chuckled at his reaction. "Aw, you're so cute when you don't know how to respond. Don't worry; we have a long time before we get there."

"Do not say anything like that around the detective," Hiei warned her. "Neither of us will hear the end of it."

Kaiya just laughed. "Trust me; I already know that. Nope, this is between us." She squeezed his hand and moved to kiss his cheek.

"Good," he said before placing a kiss on her lips. He then pressed his forehead to hers and whispered. "I am honored, though. Why me?"

"If anyone understands my feelings regarding family, it's you," Kaiya answered. "You've said it yourself. Jiro shouldn't have treated his own children the way he does. I know you wouldn't be that way, just like you know I wouldn't be like your people."

"True," Hiei said quietly. "You do not have the same mindset as they do." He pulled her closer to him to the point where they were lying together on the couch. "If you did, I probably would have killed you when you went behind my back and pulled information out of Yukina."

Kaiya simply smiled and nuzzled her head against his neck. "Now, now," she chided. "You know you wouldn't have done that. I do admit that I shouldn't have gone behind your back, though. I didn't know you as well back then, though, so of course I didn't think to ask you."

"It's in the past," Hiei replied. "It doesn't matter much now. Everything is different."

"I'll say," Kaiya laughed. Hiei relaxed when he heard her sweet, melodious laughter. She looked up into his eyes to see him glancing down at her. "What?"

"Um, nothing," he replied with a slight nervousness. "Just rest, Kaiya."

She nodded and laid her head against Hiei's chest. The two of them rested on the couch together in silence. Hiei was running his fingers through Kaiya's hair while she traced his bandaged right arm. "You have new bandages," she said breaking the silence. "Please tell me you didn't burn my brother to a crisp."

"Hn," Hiei replied with a smirk. "Don't worry; he's fine." He decided not to mention that the Dragon had no effect on Vegeta. "Vegeta wants us to train with him more. I'll be going with you tomorrow."

Kaiya grinned although Hiei could not see it since he was resting his head on top of hers. "That's great," she whispered. "I'd hoped you two would get along."

"It's easy to get along with someone who shares a common interest," Hiei pointed out.

"What, fighting?" Kaiya asked with a chuckle.

"No," Hiei said seriously. "You."

Kaiya sat up slightly and looked at Hiei as though she were shocked. Hiei smirked and let out an amused chuckle as she blushed bright red. "Oh," she replied blankly. "Um, yeah…I guess I didn't think of that."

Hiei frowned at her again. "That is because you let your father's words get to you. The truth is, Kaiya, he is not important and neither is his opinion. You're not to blame for his actions, and we _will_ stop him. We'll deal with him and then these android things that kid told us about. It's all going to be okay."

"I know," Kaiya mumbled into Hiei's chest. "It's just hard sometimes."

"Don't let it be," he told her. "Ignore Jiro. He doesn't get a say in your life. As I said, he's unimportant."

Kaiya quietly giggled. "Okay, if I say it once, will you let it go?"

"Possibly."

Kaiya sighed and sat up. "Fine. Jiro is unimportant and he doesn't get a say in my life. Happy?"

Hiei nodded to her before sitting up as well. "We have a long day ahead of us. I have a feeling your brother is going to work us hard tomorrow."

"Yeah, he always does," Kaiya joked. "And I am tired. Come on, let's go to bed."

Kaiya stood up from the couch and started heading to her room. Hiei just watched her before she stopped and looked at him strangely. He quirked his brow in response as the two of them just stared at each other. "Well," she started to answer his unasked question, "are you coming or not?"

Hiei cocked his head slightly to the right before getting up and crossing his arms, following her to her room. They both slid into the bed, facing each other before Hiei asked, "So is this going to be an everyday occurrence now?"

"Why not?" Kaiya replied with a sweet smile. "We're both a lot calmer when we're together."

"That's a terrifying thought," Hiei told her. Kaiya looked at him strangely. "Do you remember the start of our relationship?"

Kaiya couldn't help but laugh again. "When you put it that way, you have a point. Man, were we idiots. At least nearly killing each other isn't our way of greeting each other anymore."

"Thankfully, although I wouldn't have 'killed' you."

Kaiya kissed Hiei's cheek. She whispered a quiet, "I know that too," in his ear before they felt asleep together.

* * *

Vegeta was sitting alone in what humans called the "living room" pondering the story Hiei had told him about Kaiya's death. He couldn't believe that someone like that existed in his little sister's life. He also couldn't believe how much Hiei seemed to be affected by Kaiya's death. At first glance, Hiei seemed to be a hardened criminal, much like himself, but today the fire demon allowed the Saiyan prince a chance to get closer to him and bond. Even if he was just doing this for his sister, Hiei didn't need to let Vegeta get that close.

Vegeta heard the front door open and close, signaling that the woman was back from Kakarot's. The prince was shocked when he didn't sense Kaiya's energy with her. He thought the girl was going to come back with the woman since they were going to be getting in so late.

Bulma rushed into the living room and nearly jumped when she saw Vegeta sitting there. "Oh, Vegeta, hey," she greeted. "You surprised me. I expected you to be training."

"Done early," Vegeta replied curtly. "Where's Kaiya?"

Bulma sighed in the darkness, but Vegeta with his Saiyan eyesight could see her putting her hand to her head. "Vegeta, a lot happened today and she wanted to go home."

Vegeta's eyes narrowed at Bulma. Not knowing what had happened left him thinking that Kakarot had done or said something stupid to upset her. "What did that idiot do?" he snapped.

Bulma looked up, slightly alarmed at the less than subtle accusation. "Oh, Vegeta, nothing happened between her and Goku," Bulma assured him. "Jiro showed up. He attacked her and could have killed both her and Gohan. Goku got him to leave."

"Jiro," Vegeta growled out quietly, tightening his fists. "I will kill that bastard."

The next thing Vegeta knew, Bulma was behind him placing her hands gently on his shoulders. "I know you want to," she whispered to him. "Just be careful. He may be a jerk, but he's still her father. Don't do anything rash."

"If you are asking me not to kill him," Vegeta said darkly, "then I suggest you go waste you words on someone else. He has caused nothing but problems for the both of us, and I will not let him get away with it. If that is all you wanted to say, then you can go now."

Bulma smiled sadly and then took a seat next to Vegeta. "I'm not asking you not to kill him," she replied honestly. "I'm asking you to be careful when you do. Try to avoid doing it in front of Kaiya. That's how he died last time, not that there was much of a choice. He was seconds away from killing her the second time in a two days." Vegeta growled slightly, not wanting to harp on that. "Goku and I thought of something today."

"What?" Vegeta snappishly shouted.

"Well," Bulma said, ignoring his outburst, "everything that happened between Kaiya and Jiro happened about a year ago, when we were all on Namek."

"Your point," Vegeta said with a roll of his eyes. He had no idea what Bulma was getting at, but being reminded him of his past failure was not appealing to him and he was starting to get increasingly irritated with the human female he had come to coincide with.

Bulma grew nervous and looked away from Vegeta. "Do you know anything about your sister's death?" she asked hesitantly.

"I know enough," Vegeta muttered, still staring blankly at Bulma. "Again, your point?"

"Vegeta, from what we were hearing, it sounds like…"

"Like?" Vegeta pressed getting even more frustrated with Bulma. The woman still didn't answer to him, looking to him with worry. "Get to the point, damn it!" he shouted at her.

"Fine," Bulma shouted back. "You know what, Vegeta…I was trying to think of a nice way to put this, but you're making it impossible."

"I don't need you to make it sound 'nice,'" Vegeta sneered. "Just. Get. To. The. Point."

"Alright, then," Bulma said with a sigh. "Vegeta, Kaiya may have died around the same time you did."

"W-What?" Vegeta breathed out while looking away from Bulma. "That's…that can't be…"

"A coincidence?" Bulma finished. "I was thinking that too. It seems too planned out, and probably not on Frieza's end."

Vegeta tightened even more in anger. If Bulma was implying what he thought she was, Jiro planned when he was going to go after Kaiya. He wondered if the human knew about the things occurring on Namek as well or if it was just a coincidence. Then another thing hit him. If Jiro planned the attack when Frieza was directing his attention to another planet, was Jiro actually trying to break his deal with the tyrant just because he was angry with the young girl for choosing the side of her friends?

"Jiro is an idiot," Vegeta mumbled. "If he killed Kaiya and Frieza had gotten his wish, then Frieza would have come after him and ended his pathetic life."

"Well, thankfully Kaiya is alive now and Frieza isn't," Bulma said in attempts to point out the bright side.

"This is ridiculous," he continued to mumble out. "He does not deserve a second chance to harm her. I want to end him now."

"I'm sure," Bulma agreed. "Look, I'm not going to tell you to change how you feel. If I had the power, I'd want to kill him too. Your sister has been hurt too much by him, both physically and emotionally."

"Why do you even care so much?" Vegeta questioned. "About her or about me."

Bulma just smiled from behind him. "Because someone has to look out for you. As for your sister, she is a sweet girl. Of course I'd be protective over her, especially because I know how important she is to you and how much you care about her." At seeing Vegeta's confused expression, Bulma finished with, "We are kind of friends now, don't you think?"

Vegeta snorted in feigned derision. "That's absurd," he scoffed, thankful that it was dark and Bulma was behind him. She would never let him live it down if she caught him blushing.

"Aw, don't be like that, Geta," Bulma teased jovially.

"No," Vegeta growled at her. "Only my sister can call me that."

"That's fine," Bulma chimed finding it adorable that Vegeta had a preference of nicknames and who could call him said names. "I could always call you Veggie-chan."

Vegeta turned to face her, now seething in both irritation and embarrassment. His face was reddened with anger as he yelled, "You will do no such thing, or, so help me, I will blast you where you stand."

"Yeah, I don't think so…" Bulma said before tacking on, "Veggie." Vegeta just crossed his arms and turned away, not even responding to her. Bulma held back a laugh for the prince's pouting. "Hey," she said quietly, "I'm only teasing. Don't take it so seriously."

"I am not a tool for your own amusement," Vegeta growled while getting angry again.

Bulma frowned, concerned at the fact that Vegeta was pulling away from her at her gentle teasing. She realized that it had to have come from the way he grew up and decided to go a different route. "No, you are definitely not a tool," she assured him. "Tools fix things and don't break my hard work all the time."

Vegeta smirked with pride at her remark. "Well, if you worked harder, it wouldn't happen as often."

"Says you," Bulma replied, finally taking a seat next to him. She placed a hand comfortingly on his arm, his face contorting with even more confusion and bitter curiosity.

"Woman, what the hell are you doing?" he asked darkly.

He silenced himself and slightly relaxed when Bulma smiled. "You need to relax. All this stress isn't good for any of you. Now, in the morning, Kaiya is coming to train here, right? I would just talk to her, open up to her. No matter what you say, she'll listen. I would listen too, but I'm sure you'd rather talk to your sister than to me about this stuff. I only know what I saw on the machine. Both of you have seen and dealt with a lot more than I have."

Bulma stood up and stretched a bit, ignoring the silent question Vegeta was trying to convey with his eyes. "Good night, Vegeta," she said soothingly before walking away. Vegeta just stared at her as she left the room. He couldn't believe what had just transpired between him and Bulma. He always hated her, ridiculed her, threatened to kill her, yet she was calling him a friend and actually attempted to understand him and his murderous ways with no judgment. It was almost like how his sister treated him, but somehow different. Kaiya was his sister, and therefore had a connection to him. Bulma did not share a connection with him, and should probably be running in the opposite direction from him.

"What is with these Earthlings?" he asked to no one in particular. "No wonder they are so clueless."

One thing was certain, though. He did need to get some rest and attempt to quell his anger before he was to train with Kaiya and Hiei the next day. He did not want to bring anger from the past into his training session with his sister or her boyfriend around. He would hate to end up taking it out on either of them. With that final thought, Vegeta stood up and headed to his temporary room.

* * *

Kaiya woke up feeling completely relaxed and at ease. She had had no nightmares, no flashbacks, just a peaceful sleep. She turned over in Hiei's grasp and saw that he was still asleep with his arms wrapped around her. Her idea last night for them to sleep together seemed to do him a world of good too. She felt him give her a tight squeeze before he opened his eyes. Seems the fire demon was awake too.

"Morning, koi," she greeted in a whisper.

"Morning, onna," he replied pulling her close to him. "We need to get up."

"Yeah, I know," Kaiya said with a sigh. "I'm just so comfortable." Hiei nodded, but moved out of the bed. Kaiya groaned because that meant her heater had just removed himself and she would need to get out of bed too. "Fine," she muttered. "I'm getting up."

Hiei silently chuckled at her. "I'll leave you to get dressed," he told her before leaving the room. He was surprised to see Kurama and Yusuke in the apartment and rolled his eyes. "Breaking and entering, Kurama?"

"Hey, what's with the judgment?" Yusuke asked with a laugh. "You're just as bad."

"What do you two want?" Hiei asked getting straight to the point. "And why did you leave you families unprotected?"

"They aren't," Kurama replied. "I have many guard plants ready."

"Your mother won't notice the plants attacking an intruder?" Hiei said with curiosity.

"She knows now," Kurama admitted.

"She…what?"

"Yeah, fox boy finally told her," Yusuke explained. "Surprising right?"

Kurama sighed. "We have an enemy who has already succeeded in taking the life of someone we care about running around freely. Honestly, she needed to know for her own safety."

"How did she take it?" Kaiya asked, coming out of her room dressed in a red T-shirt and black shorts for training.

Kurama smiled at her. "You were right, Kaiya. It didn't change her opinion of me. She is a little nervous about me being out and about, though."

"All mothers worry," Kaiya returned.

"Hey, Kaiya, how are you doing?" Yusuke asked. "Everything was kind of crazy the other day."

"I've been better," she answered honestly, "but I'm okay. Jiro attacked me yesterday, but everything is fine. Hiei and I are going to go train with my brother today."

"Well, that's neat," Yusuke said. "So how does he train? Anything like us?"

"Yes and no," Kaiya told him. "He does a lot of kata and meditation like we do, and we do spar quite a bit, but unlike us, he trains at a higher level of gravity."

"How is that even possible?" Yusuke muttered. "Gravity is gravity. There's no higher about it."

"Wrong as usual," Hiei taunted.

"Hey, watch it!" Yusuke shouted causing Hiei to smirk.

"Hn, well if you knew anything, different planet bodies have different gravities. From what Vegeta told Kaiya, Planet Vegeta had ten times Earth's gravity. Training at high gravity can make you stronger."

"Hey, you listened," Kaiya said happily. "I thought you drowned me out when I told you that."

"Why would I do that?" Hiei asked her. "You're always excited when you learn more about Planet Vegeta and the Saiyans."

"Is it school excited or aquarium excited?" Yusuke teased.

"The latter," Hiei responded. "Now if we're done here, we're already going to be late for training."

"Hiei…you're worried about...being punctual?" Kurama asked hesitantly.

Hiei flashed Kurama a half-hearted glare. "Is there a problem with that?"

"No?" Kurama replied, still shocked that his friend cared about getting to training on time.

"You still haven't answered my question," Hiei stated. "What are you even doing here?"

"Oh, well, we wanted to know if you two wanted to come to Genkai's today for training, but you have that covered," Yusuke reported. "We also wanted to know what you thought about a little beach trip this weekend. We only have about a month before these two," he said motioning to Kaiya and Kurama, "and Kuwabara have school again."

"Oh yeah," Kaiya said, eye widening. "How am I supposed to balance school and volunteer work while watching out for Jiro and training for the Androids."

"One step at a time," Hiei muttered. "And if you're worried about that, I say we go on the beach trip."

"Okay, cool, we'll tell the others," Yusuke said with a grin. "Good luck with training."

"Same to you," Kaiya replied. When the two left, Kaiya looked to Hiei. "What has you so upset?"

"Where Kurama is a trained thief, the fact that he got in so easily is unsettling," Hiei told her deciding not to remind her of Vegeta's breaking and entering the other night. "If he can get in, then so can Jiro. You aren't safe in this apartment."

"What do you want me to do?" Kaiya asked him. "I can't just sell the apartment."

"Why not?" Hiei asked her. "We could see if Bulma would mind having you stay there. With both me and Vegeta there, plus whatever security systems they have, we have a better chance of protecting you from Jiro."

"Okay, I know you're making sense," Kaiya said. "Vegeta brought this up once before too, before Jiro and Frieza showed up, and I know Bulma would like the company. She looked around the apartment and frowned. "It's just that…I don't want to impose and I really don't want to leave the apartment. We've made a lot of memories here."

"Kaiya, I am not one to understand human sentiments, but do you hear how ridiculous you sound?" Hiei asked as kindly as he could. "You moved here three years ago. It was temporary until you decided to take up residence in Japan. You may as well make it more permanent. What better way than staying with your brother in a highly secured area?"

"You're coming with me, right?" Kaiya asked him. When he nodded, she sighed and nodded back to him. "Okay, I'll ask Bulma today. It is a really good idea."

"Right," Hiei mumbled. "Anyways, let's go. Like I said, we're late."

"Okay, I'm ready," Kaiya said before the two of them left the apartment. Kaiya looked back inside for a moment. For the first time in a while, Kaiya felt a foreign feeling when she was looking inside. She had been feeling this way for a while, including the times she noticed her door unlocked. Maybe her senses and premonitions were warning her away from staying here. If Kurama could passively get in, then Jiro would be able to break the door down and finish the job. _Yeah…seriously time to move…_

* * *

Vegeta was practicing his kata in the GR at the very high level of 250 G's. It was getting to be too easy for him to do now, so he knew he needed to step it up. He looked at the clock Bulma had installed during the last upgrade in attempts to get him to dinner more. A frown appeared on his face when he realized that Hiei and Kaiya were late. He did not tolerate much, especially lateness. That was the first strike today.

He turned off the GR and went outside to check and saw that his sister had finally shown up with her boyfriend. Both of them looked a little worried, Hiei taking her hand and giving her a reassuring nod. Kaiya went inside right after, confusing Vegeta before Hiei started walking over to the GR. Vegeta was about to scold the fire demon for his tardy, but Hiei spoke up first.

"We had unwanted company," he told the prince. "Our friends decided to break in to ask if we wanted to train. Then we discussed the concept of her living here. She's asking Bulma right now."

Vegeta crossed his arms and faced Hiei. "And what made you think of here?" Vegeta tested him.

Hiei smirked as he realized that he was going to be under Vegeta's constant scrutiny. "It's secured and she would have two protectors. It would be more difficult for someone to break in without tripping some type of alarm or getting passed either of us."

Vegeta nodded in agreement and stepped away from the door of the GR. Hiei looked at his questioning. "While they're talking, we should start training. I want to have a private session with both of you."

"Sounds good to me," Hiei stated.

* * *

Kaiya was slightly nervous about asking Bulma if she could just abruptly move in, but she knew she had no reason to be. Bulma seemed to act as Kaiya's motherly figure while her mother was in another country, and it made the princess feel safe and wanted. The elder woman had always been welcoming to her, even though they met in the strangest of circumstances. Still, this was a big thing to ask, and with Vegeta, Yamcha, and her and her parents all living there now, it would be awkward to ask for her and her boyfriend to join in the chaos.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Bulma asked while welding to pieces of metal together to fix a broken training robot Vegeta had destroyed earlier.

"Well, Hiei and I were talking," Kaiya started. "Do you think it would be possible, if it's not too much trouble, if Hiei and I moved here? He's worried Jiro would be able to easily break into my apartment, and I'm starting to worry about that too."

Bulma turned off her torch and turned to Kaiya while wiping oil off of her hands. "I don't see why not," Bulma said quickly. "We have a ton of space here, if you haven't noticed. Besides, you know my mother loves to see you and I could use some female company. There is too much testosterone in this house, don't you agree?"

Kaiya chuckled a little bit. "Yeah, but Hiei would only add to it."

"Yeah, well, we can complain together and watch chick flicks while they all try to throttle each other," Bulma joked. "Seriously, I think it's a good idea too. It's not too far from the school, your brother is here, there's plenty of food for everyone, and it's safe. Hiei didn't have a bad idea. I'm surprised none of us thought of it sooner."

Kaiya smiled at Bulma. "Yeah, we probably should have. Anyways, now that we have that cleared up, I need to start working on packing my apartment up. But first, I have a training session to get to."

"Have fun," Bulma said warmly. "Vegeta doesn't say it, but I know these training sessions he has with you does him a lot of good. It's better than when he trains alone. Maybe you'll rub off on him when you move in."

"Let's hope," Kaiya replied. "Anyways, talk to you later." With a new plan ahead of her, Kaiya speedily headed out to the GR. Bulma just chuckled at the young Saiyan girl before turning back to do her work.

"Bulma, what did you just do?" she heard Yamcha ask from behind her.

Bulma sighed and shut her torch off again. "What do you mean, Yamcha?"

"You just invited another Saiyan to live here," he muttered. "Isn't one enough?"

"Oh chill, Yamcha. You're just upset because she insults you and Vegeta drives you crazy," she pointed out.

"They don't drive you crazy?" Yamcha asked in shock.

"Not really," Bulma replied nonchalantly. "Kaiya acts like a girl raised on Earth, and I'm actually happy to have her around. Vegeta is just stubborn and cranky half the time and the other half, he's just present. They're both not that bad, at least not as bad as you think."

"Whatever, I'm not even having this discussion with you," Yamcha said in frustration. "I'm going to go train in the gym."

"Alright," Bulma responded. "I'll be up in a bit. Mom's been cooking snacks all day." Bulma then looked at the clock. "I wonder what time they'll be done with training."

* * *

Kaiya arrived outside and found Vegeta and Hiei now sparring outside of the GR. Both of them looked seriously exhausted, and they both paused in their fight when they sensed her walking up to them. "Well?" Hiei asked.

"Yeah, we're moving in," Kaiya said with a smile. "Which will be good because we can train and rest together and keep each other safe."

Hiei nodded to her and fell out of his fighting stance, walking over to his sword leaning against a tree. He turned to the two of them and said, "I'll work with my sword while you two spar."

Vegeta grunted in response and turned to his sister. She was smiling brightly at him, completely happy that soon they'd be living together. "We'll get to play more catch up, too," Kaiya told him. "I would love that."

Vegeta softened a bit, also happy that she would be close by. He didn't let it show, though, as he motioned for them to enter the GR. Kaiya followed Vegeta, her tail swishing around excitedly. Vegeta smirked slightly as he watched his sister run passed him in the GR. He hadn't seen her this happy in a while. Sure, she was excited when he came home, but now, she was just overjoyed.

"Ready?" Vegeta asked, calling the girl's attention to him. She looked over to him, smiled, and nodded. "Okay, get into your stance."

Kaiya did as Vegeta ordered, and he noticed that her stance had gotten significantly better sine the first time they trained. She must have been training a lot while he was away. The thought filled the Saiyan prince with pride. Even if she didn't have an efficient trainer while he was away, she seemed to pick up techniques quickly and that would help her.

For the first time, Kaiya decided to go on the offensive and sprung out of her stance, taking Vegeta by surprise. How much had she changed since the last time they fought? Vegeta was able to block her punch at the last second, grabbing her fist before releasing her and directing a kick her way, using significantly less force than he was used to.

Kaiya managed to dodge it, quickly going behind him and attempting to kick him back. Vegeta again blocked her as the two of them kept throwing, blocking, and dodging each other's hits. Kaiya started laughing, having fun at the prospect of at least keeping up with her brother, not caring that she wasn't getting a hit in. Similarly, Vegeta was enjoying himself and actually caught himself smiling. These were how Saiyan siblings fought to bond, and it made Vegeta feel that joy that Kaiya had felt earlier. That was until her tail curled around his leg to steady herself. Then Vegeta just saw red as he was launched to a memory from his past. Kaiya and the GR did not exist in that moment, as he was mentally transported back to Frieza's ship with his tormentor staring him down. The problem with that was now Vegeta could fight back, and it wasn't going to Frieza he was attacking.

* * *

Hiei was busy working with his sword. After the number of times his blade broke, Kaiya offered to take it to Bulma to see what they could do with it. The scientist suggested enforcing the blade with a stronger steel alloy, and worked on it for a couple of days. After fighting with Vegeta the day prior, Hiei realized that one of his problems, though not the most major, was that he had less control of the blade than he was used to. It was something he would easily be able to adjust to, but he wanted to start working on it sooner rather than later.

After getting used to his basic moves with the enforced sword, he sensed both Kaiya's and Vegeta's energy spike. That was a problem, as he did not sense energy in the ways that the Saiyans could. He could sense their emotions with the Jagan, and he felt Kaiya's fear and Vegeta's rage.

He didn't wait a second before he forced his way into the GR. He couldn't believe the sight he had walked in on. For some reason, Vegeta looked like he was going to attack Kaiya. Hiei was temporarily out of it as he heard Kaiya pleading with her brother. Vegeta didn't seem to hear her as he got closer to her. Hiei could sense Kaiya trying to use her telepathy to communicate with her brother, but he couldn't get a specific thought. The orb Vegeta was holding decreased in size, so whatever Kaiya was doing was working, but Vegeta still had the intent to kill flashing in his eyes. Ignoring the heightened gravity he wasn't yet accustomed to, he raced towards Kaiya before Vegeta even had time to attack her. Vegeta's confusion was evident and his blast disappeared before he ever released it.

Vegeta, now back in reality, was trying to get a grasp of where he was and what he was doing. He wasn't surprised to find that he was in the GR, but he was devastated when he saw his sister standing directly across from him where Frieza had been a second ago and Hiei standing protectively in front of her, glaring daggers at Vegeta. Vegeta knew he definitely deserved it.

"Vegeta," Kaiya breathed out before Vegeta took off out of the GR. Hiei was about to follow him, but Kaiya grabbed his arm, stopping him. He glared back at her, gritting his teeth. "Don't," she pleaded with him now, sounding more concerned than frightened. "He didn't know it was me. I was trying to get through to him."

"What do you mean he doesn't know it was you?" Hiei snapped. "He was looking straight at-"

"Frieza," Kaiya finished, interrupting Hiei's statement. "He thought he was fighting Frieza." Hiei looked at her as if she had lost her mind. Kaiya just sighed sadly and let go of Hiei's arm. "Remember those times I space out?" she asked. When he nodded, she continued. "Flashbacks…nothing but flashbacks. It's like reliving a certain event in your life over and over again. You don' know this, but sometimes when we've fought, I've had flashbacks of Jiro and what happened, which is why I usually end up getting knocked out by you. It takes us out of the fights we're currently in."

"That…sounds like the worst ability I have ever heard of," Hiei said in shock, his voice softer than before. He looked towards the direction Vegeta headed and felt bad for the prince. He couldn't even imagine thinking he was fighting his worst enemy while his sister was really the one sitting in front of him.

Kaiya started walking outside. Without looking at Hiei, she said, "I'll be back," and then took off.

* * *

When Vegeta couldn't feel anyone's ki anymore, he finally landed. He could not believe how close he was to hurting his sister, to being like _them. _He knelt down on the ground and realized that he somehow ended up at a stream. He didn't really care where he was at that moment. Right now, he just needed to be away from his sister. How could he have let something like that almost happen to her? He was supposed to be her protector, not her attacker.

His energy was fluctuating rapidly, and that made it easier for Kaiya to find him. She touched down to where he was, seeing him sitting on the ground, burying his head into his knees and shaking his head. Kaiya walked over to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, startling him out of his fetal position. He hadn't sensed her energy, too upset to focus on anything but his own failure, and was ready to scream at whoever thought it was okay to bother him, but shock quickly plastered itself on his face when he saw his sister standing over him.

He looked into the stream, away from her. "You should be as far away from me as possible right now," he said without his usual forcefulness. His voice sounded empty and sad, making Kaiya frown. "I can't believe I almost let that happen."

"Hey, Geta," Kaiya said softly while sitting down next to him, "it was not your fault. I get trapped in my memories too sometimes. You couldn't control it. That's why I was trying to force you out with the telepathy."

Vegeta froze and looked over to her. "Is that what that push was?" Vegeta said in exasperation. "I thought I was going crazy for a second. I randomly heard you voice."

Kaiya smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that was me. I was trying to snap you out of it and it kind of worked. Your attack had decreased in strength. You snapped out of it fully when Hiei entered the GR."

Vegeta looked away again, completely ashamed. "That should have never happened," Vegeta growled out. "I shouldn't have let that take over my mind."

"Vegeta, it was my fault," Kaiya said to him. Vegeta flashed her a glare, about to scold her for blaming herself, but she held up her hand to stop him. "I'm not just saying it because I feel responsible. I am responsible. My tail curling around your leg pushed you into the memory. I should have curled it around my waist like I've been doing. It incited the memory. I'm sorry."

Vegeta scoffed and looked away. "It doesn't matter what caused it," Vegeta said as calmly as he could. "The fact that it happened and you nearly got hurt because of it…you shouldn't be around me."

Kaiya rolled her eyes and leaned against Vegeta, pulling him into a hug. "I'm twenty years old, Vegeta," she told him. "Only I can decide who I want to be around. I don't blame you, not even a little. I know you saw Frieza, and I know what you must be feeling right now, but you can't let it get to you. I don't know about you, but I've been having these flashbacks less and less ever since we started training. I think, if we work together on this, that we can figure out a way to overcome this stupid ability. Just don't beat yourself up for it."

Vegeta perked up a little bit, and Kaiya felt happy thinking that she had gotten through to him. Instead, she gave him an idea, and not about the flashbacks either. "Go back," he instructed her. Kaiya didn't move, but looked at Vegeta with her sad and questioning eyes. "Don't worry," he told her. "I'll be back shortly."

Kaiya smiled at him and stood up, bending down to kiss his cheek. "Okay, and then we can talk about me moving in. Actually, I think I'll get Hiei to come help me pack now. I can't wait to spend more time with you. Love you, Geta," she said before flying back to the compound. Vegeta watched her, his spirit breaking with every kind word she uttered. He didn't deserve them; he didn't deserve her; and he most definitely didn't deserve her love let alone a friendship with his house mate. The universe was playing a cruel joke on him, giving him things he shouldn't have, only for him to be threatened with losing all he was starting to care for.

Vegeta finally stood up, determined to punish himself somehow. He made it back to the compound and sensed the woman inside the house with her mother and the weakling. His sister and Hiei were already heading back to the apartment, so he was alone. His face was emotionless as he walked into the GR. He shut the door and found the repaired bots inside. Ignoring the fact that the woman had fixed them in record time, he just focused on how it good it was for those bots to be there. He continued over to the control panel and turned the gravity all the way up, despite not being able to handle it. The bots were activated as he entered as he entered a few codes. Vegeta turned to them and stared them down as he struggled to hold himself up and breathe. He sent a blast that he knew would be reflected back at him and began a form of "training" that he hadn't used in years. He still felt like he deserved much worse than that.

* * *

Bulma was in conversation with her mother while Yamcha was snacking on a bunch of her mother's desserts. Her mother was rambling on about Vegeta and how hard a worker he was. Where Bulma agreed, she was also greatly concerned for him. He was too stubborn to listen to her and take a break, and it was only a matter of time before he reached the maximum gravity on that. She would need to upgrade it before he got there or else there would be complications. She knew he had only gotten a little more than halfway to the maximum setting and was currently working on the system upgrade with a safety shutdown system in case he was in there for too long. There was only so much machines could do at a time.

The sound of an explosion, and the shaking of the house made Bulma's blood run cold as she and Yamcha ran to the backyard to see what caused it. It was surreal, Bulma felt, seeing the Gravity Room in pieces and not seeing Vegeta anywhere. "W-Wha…?" she tried to say before running over to the machine.

"I knew this would happen," Yamcha said from behind her. "He's been trying to do the impossible."

Bulma ignored her boyfriend for the moment and got down to her knees to try and locate the Saiyan prince. Her heart was racing, fearing for her friend's life as she removed debris from her own machine. Eventually Vegeta's hand shot out, startling her as she fell back and knocked over Yamcha.

Vegeta managed to pull himself out of the debris. He had not planned to go that far, but his anger towards himself had been too high and he let out more energy than he intended. Had he not sent a blast to counter the original blast, he would have ended up killing himself. He had no idea what was wrong with him that day, but that was the second almost death he called.

"You…you okay?" he heard Bulma ask as he worked on catching his breath.

"Of…course I am," he lied, attempting to stand up. After he stood up, Bulma felt relief, but couldn't help but scold the prince for nearly destroying the compound.

"What are you trying to prove?" she shouted at him.

Vegeta couldn't help but smirk and chuckle. He wasn't trying to prove anything, like she seemed to think. She didn't really seem to comprehend self-inflicted punishment. Unfortunately, he did more damage to himself than he wanted and ended up falling back down to the ground. He expected to be left alone in the rubble, to be scolded at more for his mistakes, but instead Bulma rushed over to him and started whispering words of comfort to him. Vegeta tried to get her away from him, repeatedly telling her he was fine and suffered worse, but she wouldn't have it.

"You need to rest now," she told him.

Vegeta then started to get irritated by her constant coddling and snapped at her. "I take orders from no one!" He made another attempt to get up but fell down unconscious, spending all of the energy he had for the day.

Both Yamcha and Bulma had shocked expression on their faces, but for two different reasons. Bulma couldn't believe that even when Vegeta was in a weakened state he was still as stubborn and unwilling to accept help. Yamcha, on the other hand, was shocked that his longtime girlfriend had been so kind to the murderous Saiyan prince. The human felt like whatever happened in the GR was karma for all the harm Vegeta had caused, and he would never really know how right he was with that.

"Yamcha, help me get him inside," Bulma requested. "He needs medical attention now."

Yamcha was tempted to leave Vegeta out there and ignore Bulma's request, but seeing her so upset, he had to comply. Besides, he wasn't like Vegeta. He wouldn't leave anyone to die, even if they were far from innocent. Sometimes it was complicated living with aliens.

* * *

Kuwabara looked out into the distance, his head sharply turning to a certain point.

"Hey, you okay man?" Yusuke asked. When Kuwabara didn't answer, the spirit detective got worried. "What's up?"

"I don't know," Kuwabara answered. He sounded incredibly worried and that was never a good sign. "Something's wrong, Urameshi. I can feel it. Someone very close to us is hurt right now."

Yusuke's expression darkened as he struggled to give an order. "Call Kaiya…now," he said darkly. Really, he was just trying to cover up his concern. He didn't think any of them would be able to handle it if something else happened to her.

"Yeah, Kaiya," Kuwabara said into his cell phone. "You're okay? Well, that's good to know." Kuwabara was silent, meaning Kaiya was probably questioning Kuwabara. He spoke up again moments later. "Yeah, we can come by to help you pack up. But what do you mean why am I asking that?" There was more silence. "Look, I just felt something…someone is hurt, someone close to us, so I assumed it was you with you-know-who running around." Kuwabara looked to Yusuke and the detective saw his eyes go wide. "Yeah, we'll take care of it. We'll head over there right now. Go see what happened."

Kuwabara hung up the phone and walked over to Yusuke. "Um, we need to go work on packing her apartment. Hiei has deemed the apartment unsafe."

"Well, yeah…" Yusuke agreed. "Wait, where were you telling her to go?"

Kuwabara looked away from him before saying, "I think something happened to Vegeta."


	11. Chapter 10 - Beach Trip

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters, or the dialogue from random B/V DBZ scene (you'll know it when you get there). Just my OCs.

* * *

Within the next few days after the training accident, Kaiya's stuff was already moved into Capsule Corp. She was very thankfully for her friends, cousin, and sister for taking care of everything while she and Bulma took turns keeping vigil over Vegeta. He still hadn't woken up yet which meant his injuries were slightly more severe than anyone would have liked to believe. Kaiya rarely left his bedside, worried that he'd be out of it from the drugs when he woke up and not remember where he was. Bulma was the same, though she was the one who always brought food into the room so that Kaiya would be forced to eat. She had the tendency to ignore food when she was upset or distracted, and right now she was both.

It was now nighttime on the second day Vegeta lied in the bed unconscious and Kaiya was getting more worried about her brother. She had no idea what had happened in the GR after he had gotten back. She and Hiei had left by that point so she could go home and start packing. Part of her felt that she should have waited for him, to make sure he was really okay before she left.

She was getting tired, but she didn't want to leave yet, so instead she laid her head down on her arms on the side of the bed and closed her eyes. Hiei walked in moments later and sighed. He had been hoping to get Kaiya out of the room and into bed. He knew she hadn't slept well the day before. He didn't know what he could do or say at this point. It was obvious to anyone that Vegeta could take a lot more than most, and the fire demon was sure the Saiyan had seen worse. He would be fine, but even if Hiei told her that, Kaiya still would refuse to leave Vegeta's side even if it meant ignoring her own health.

Bulma came into the room after him with a tray of food and smiled. Hiei would come by every few hours to check on Kaiya and she thought it was sweet. "Hey," she greeted him.

Hiei grunted in acknowledgement and the two of them walked over to the table neck to the bed. Bulma sat down as Hiei leaned against the wall. "How much longer is he going to be like this?" he asked.

"Well, the doctors said a few weeks, but I highly doubt it," Bulma admitted. "Vegeta's a Saiyan so he should heal rather quickly. I mean, the doctors expected him to be dead after I brought him in."

"And the medical profession continues to impress me," Hiei muttered sarcastically.

Bulma couldn't help but laugh. "I take it you had a bad experience with doctors?"

"Not me," Hiei said looking over to Kaiya's sleeping form.

Bulma followed his field of vision and smiled sadly. "You mean when whatever happened, happened?"

Hiei nodded. "The doctors were morons. If they couldn't tell that Mayonaka was related to Kaiya when they're identical twins then it's no wonder they nearly cost her her life, though truthfully I blame Jiro for that."

"I wish I was built like all of you so I can give that creep a piece of my mind," Bulma admitted. "No one should ever make their child feel the way he has."

"You'd be surprised how things in the world truly work," Hiei spoke truthfully.

Bulma didn't know what to say to that. Over the years, the once naïve teenager had learned that lesson the hard way. Had she not gone on her adventure when she was a teenager, she would have never have been exposed to the real dangers in the world, and the only reason she had been on that journey was for the most misguided of reasons. "You may be surprised, but I am not surprised by that. I think I've seen more than any human ever has, and I'm sure it's doesn't even come close to everything you've all seen."

Hiei shrugged but said nothing more as he continued to stare at Kaiya. He was almost willing her to wake up, because he did not want to remove her from Vegeta's bedside and have her wake up disoriented and confused as to where she was, but she also needed to get a night of comfortable sleep. Sure, she was protected now not only by him but by a state of the art security system, but it didn't mean she could ignore her own wellbeing. If Jiro were to show up at any time, Kaiya would need to be ready to defend herself and hold him off if Hiei was not around, at least until Vegeta woke up and recovered. It was one of the reasons that Hiei hadn't told Kaiya he needed to leave for about a week yet. There were a few things he needed to take care of in Demon World that he hadn't yet, but he couldn't leave her unguarded.

"So…" Bulma said to break the silence in the room, "I know you're a demon, but where exactly are you from? Kaiya hasn't mentioned anything about that."

Hiei hid his smile when Bulma said that Kaiya had kept quiet about his past. He never doubted that he could trust her, but it was nice to have some assurance. She never pushed him to come clean to Yukina, nor had she told any of her closest friends or relatives. "My past and origin is none of your concern," he stated, though his voice had a lightness in it instead of his usual irritation.

"Maybe not," Bulma replied, "but it would be nice to know more about my housemates. I know a lot about Kaiya and Vegeta now, so what about you?"

Hiei just looked up to Bulma and reminded her, "What you know about them is something you saw due to Kaiya's power activating while both she and Vegeta were being mind-scanned. One has to be willing to talk about their problems. I am not."

Bulma frowned slightly. "Didn't you learn about Kaiya's past the same way?"

Hiei shook his head. "Most of it I learned from her. She gave us permission to enter her head. Whatever we saw, she knew we'd have to talk about eventually. Had she refused the scan, we would have left it alone, but she would have been in danger every time she got tossed into a nightmare or zoned out randomly."

"I guess I see your point," Bulma sighed. "But if I hadn't stepped in, he wouldn't have known either."

"I won't disagree with that either," Hiei grunted.

Bulma scoffed slightly. "The two of you are impossible."

Hiei shrugged. "That may be, but you will never understand why."

Before Bulma could retort, Hiei pushed himself off the wall and walked towards Kaiya. He gently shook her, but she was completely out. Sighing, he picked her up and cradled her in his arms before nodding over to Bulma and walking out.

Yamcha was coming into the room to talk to Bulma and came face to face with Hiei. Hiei just glared at Yamcha, which made the human step back to allow the demon to take his girlfriend to their room. He then entered the room, shaking his head. "I will never understand that relationship," he said in attempts to lighten the mood the medical room set.

"Well, we don't have to understand it," Bulma replied looking back over to Vegeta. "We just have to accept it. The two of them are happy and that's all that matters. Besides, Vegeta is pretty overprotective of Kaiya, so if he's okay with Hiei, we all should be."

"Please, how could he even have an opinion?" Yamcha scoffed. "He's never around them long enough."

"Oh Yamcha, don't start," Bulma breathed out in frustration. "He's around them more than us, and that's how it should be, right? We barely know him, and he did start out as our enemy. He trains with them, too, so of course he'd know more about their relationship, don't cha think?"

"Why do you always defend this guy?" Yamcha started to yell. "Do you forget who he is? He's the bastard that came here to destroy the Earth and kill all of us! He's responsible for killing me!"

"No, I haven't forgotten," Bulma sighed, "but can you think about what's going on now? He hasn't tried to destroy the planet or kill anyone since he found out about Kaiya. I seriously don't think we have to worry."

"You don't know that!" Yamcha shouted. "How do we know he even cares about her? It could be a front. I mean, didn't you say she wasn't always part Saiyan? What if he doesn't see her as one? It could be like Goku all over again."

"This is different, Yamcha," Bulma stated. "You haven't seen them together. It's so surreal. Anyway, it's getting late. You should get to bed. Don't you have a game tomorrow?"

"Me? Bulma, what about you? You should get some rest too," Yamcha suggested. His eyes moved to the unconscious Saiyan and he scowled. Bulma had been spending way too much time in the room for his liking, and it was time for her to leave.

"I'll be in later," he heard her voice say. Yamcha's eyes widened at being shot down. He hadn't been expecting Bulma to reject spending time with him, even if it was just sleeping. Having been spending so much time with baseball, and her with the company and playing hostess to yet another Saiyan, Yamcha was starting to feel distance between them, a distance that had never been there before in their relationship.

"Bulma, nothing is going to happen if you come to bed," Yamcha said as softly as he could in attempts to hide his irritation.

"I know," Bulma admitted, "but like I said, I'll only be a minute."

"Fine," Yamcha surrendered before storming out of the room. Bulma couldn't help but roll her eyes. Her boyfriend had been acting strange as of late, especially when Kaiya moved into the compound. It was almost as if he didn't want the female demi-Saiyan there, which was odd because Kaiya usually kept to herself in this room waiting for Vegeta to wake up and that was just for the last few days. Before, she kept to herself waiting for Vegeta to return to Earth.

Out of nowhere, she heard Vegeta's voice, which she had not been expecting with him being so out of it and unconscious. She could have sworn that she heard him say Goku's Saiyan name. She turned back to face him, seeing him cringing and beads of sweat rolling down his face. She realized that he was having a nightmare and went over to check on him. She wiped the sweat off of his face with a soft towel before stroking his flame-shaped hair. She mentally laughed at the fact that she would never be able to do this if he were unconscious. This would be her secret and hers alone. She did value her life after all.

He did calm down a little bit after that, but not by much. Bulma remembered overhearing Kaiya and Hiei talking about her nightmares and how some of them are like reliving the past. She wondered if that was happening to Vegeta right now, and what it was he was remembering. Still, she was concerned. If he was having a nightmare, it was possible he could be waking up soon. He wouldn't know where he was, so for the safety of this part of the house, Bulma decided to stay until he woke up.

She didn't think she'd have to wait long, but over an hour later, Vegeta still hadn't woken up. Bulma was already asleep, lying her permed head on her hands. Hours later, Vegeta finally woke up from his nightmare while trying to figure out what room he was in. The last thing he had remembered was the GR and the explosion. He deduced that he was in the medical room, but he had no idea how long he had been out for. He turned his head slightly and saw Bulma asleep at a desk. _What is she doing in here? _he thought to himself.

Well, he didn't care. His dream had left him wanting to train. It was ironic to him that the thing that had put him in here was a memory and surprisingly guilt, but what woke him up was the memory of his father's words and the desire to be stronger. Nothing else mattered to him in that moment besides training.

* * *

Hours later, it was morning, and Bulma was waking up. She stretched her aching shoulders and then looked at the empty bed next to her. At first, she didn't react, simply blinking at the bed as if registering the fact that Vegeta was not there in her groggy state. Once her mind was finally awake, she stormed out if the room.

Assuming the Saiyan was not an idiot and was just feeding his large appetite, Bulma flew towards the kitchen, hoping to see the Saiyan prince sitting at the table. Of course, when she got there, he was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, babe," Yamcha greeted lazily as he walked into the kitchen. He was still waking up, so he didn't even see Bulma's panic-stricken face. Sitting down at the kitchen table, he finally looked over to her and noticed that she was upset. "What's wrong, Bulma?"

"Vegeta wasn't in the bed," she said hurriedly as she started to look into the outer rooms in the kitchen.

Yamcha heard her loud and clear and the sleepiness he felt was replaced by panic, but for a different reason than Bulma. "What do you mean he wasn't in the bed? I thought he was out for a few weeks."

"Yeah, well, the doctors were wrong," Bulma said in frustration. Now she understood why Hiei couldn't stand the doctors. They would never understand these special circumstances, and could not use their normal education to diagnose anyone who wasn't human. "I just hope he's okay."

Yamcha groaned and used his hand to hide his face. "Bulma, seriously, why do you care about that creep, anyway? He's not like us, and he came to destroy us. You've already given him your home. Why do you have to care about him too?"

Bulma shook her head. She and Yamcha had been having similar arguments since he was wished back. The human fighter did not understand why she chose to help Vegeta, but Bulma had always been free-spirited and welcoming, even if it wasn't the wisest decision. Then after seeing part of Vegeta's past, she warmed up to the Saiyan. He wasn't just the creep who came to destroy their planet anymore, but the sweet guy who did everything to protect his sister. The only thing was that Bulma would not reveal that. She found out by manipulation, but she knew the Hiei was right and Vegeta did not like her knowing anything. How would he feel is she revealed a private part in his life to her boyfriend just to end the argument?

"Seriously, Yamcha, this isn't the time," she responded blandly. "I need to find Vegeta and get him back into bed."

"If he's out of bed, he'll be fine, Bulma," Yamcha huffed. "You really need to stop treating him like his some wounded spirit. He's no better than scum we've fought before."

Bulma flashed a glared at Yamcha. She wasn't surprised that he was insulting Vegeta; he did it all the time. This time, though, he attacked his character and revealed that he saw him as less than a person. "Yamcha, grow up," Bulma said sternly. "Doesn't the fact that he came back to his sister and to keep his promise show you he is different?"

Yamcha was about to respond when Kaiya ran into the room looking around as Bulma had been doing earlier. Panicked didn't even begin to describe how she looked. She looked terrified.

"Kaiya, sweetie, what's wrong?" Bulma asked, forgetting the fight she had just had with her boyfriend. She walked over to Kaiya, put her hands on her shoulders, and felt her shaking. Something was really upsetting her. "Are you okay?"

"W-where's Vegeta?" the girl stuttered. "He wasn't in the bed."

"I know," Bulma replied while rubbing her shoulders. "I'm still looking for him. But seriously, are you okay? You're shaking."

Kaiya looked taken aback by Bulma's question and looked away. "I-I'm fine. Just had a bad…I mean, it's nothing. Where could he be?"

"Probably flew the coop," Yamcha grumbled from the table. "Like always."

"Okay, that's it," Kaiya growled as she faced Yamcha. "I don't care what you have against my brother. I'm sick of hearing you take jabs at him all the time. At least he doesn't act like an ass and flirt with other girls around his girlfriend in front of the other girl's boyfriend."

Kaiya flashed out of the room, anger and fear radiating off her in waves. Bulma blinked at the spot she had been standing in before and Yamcha just looked dumbfounded. Yeah, he knew that Kaiya had been made at him for the first time they met, so he could let that go, but he didn't not understand what had her so upset that she now decided to confront him on it. "Um, I can go talk to her," he suggested awkwardly. Part of him felt bad for upsetting the younger girl.

"No," Bulma sighed. "I don't think she'd like that. I'll go talk to her. Yamcha, can you please do me a favor?" Yamcha nodded when he saw the hope in Bulma's eyes. "Can you just go look for Vegeta? I don't want her to be worried."

"Sure," Yamcha agreed reluctantly before getting up from the table. "Um, can you let her know I'm sorry?"

Bulma nodded once before going after Kaiya. It wasn't strange that Kaiya went straight back to her room, but hearing broken sobs was not a good sign. Curiosity took Bulma as she peeked through the cracked door and found Hiei hugging Kaiya and rubbing her back.

"It's going to be okay, you know," he said calmly, though his expression was full of anger.

Kaiya buried her face in his chest and weakly nodded. "I know, but I hate these premonitions. I can't tell if they're dreams or if something bad is going to happen."

Hiei pulled her back and stared into her eyes. "Your brother is stronger than anyone I've met, even the strongest demons in Demon World. I'm sure he's fine now. It was just a dream. Even if he was weakened, there is no way that Jiro would have gotten to him."

"I know," Kaiya muttered into his chest. "Rationally, I know. It's just that, well, we don't know if it's just a dream." She sat up and pushed her hair from her face as she tried to dry her tears. "The last time I had a dream like that, Jiro attacked me."

Bulma refrained from gasping. She had no idea that Kaiya's abilities included possibly seeing the future. From what she could gather, it sounded like the girl had had a bad dream regarding Vegeta and Jiro. It made sense that she had been so shaky when she was searching for Vegeta. "The last time you had a dream like that," Hiei said interrupting Kaiya's thoughts, "none of us were prepared. You were outside and alone, with no protection. That was my fault. I shouldn't have left you out there."

"It wasn't your fault," Kaiya stated. "I asked for time alone."

"My point is," he said placing a hand against her cheek, "we were not prepared and you were not protected. Now we're prepared. We're in a high security building, and when Kurama was here he planted some of his guard plants. Had Jiro shown up, we would have known. That only leaves this as an option. Vegeta is fine, and he's probably off somewhere training. Once again, human doctors prove to be idiots."

Kaiya giggled at the remark. "Yeah, I can agree with that. Remember, mom works with them and I hear plenty of stories." She released a sigh as she nuzzled against Hiei's neck. "Do you really think Vegeta is okay?"

"I think we'd be the idiots if we thought anything different," Hiei replied with sincerity. "You need to stop worrying."

"Oh shut up," Kaiya laughed and playfully smacked his shoulder. "Okay, well if he's better and out training, then we can still invite him on the camping trip." Hiei just nodded as Kaiya leapt up from their spot on the floor. "Well then I need to find where he is."

"Hn," came Hiei's stunted reply. "Let me know when you do. I need to talk to him."

Kaiya smiled sweetly at Hiei before starting to leave the room. Bulma moved to hide in the room next to theirs so that she wouldn't be found out. The good news was that Hiei seemed sure that Vegeta was awake and healthy, training somewhere. Bulma scoffed and shook her head. She had thought that Vegeta would do the sensible thing and not overdo the training on day one, but now it made more sense why he couldn't be found. He had been under their noses the entire time. Well, Bulma was not going to have him training in the thing that put him in the medical ward today, especially since she hadn't tested her father's original design.

* * *

Vegeta was definitely in the GR, but only doing some light training. He was focusing his energy, inverting himself in the air at a higher gravity. His muscles were aching, probably signaling that he should take a break, but his dream made him eager to resume his heavy training. As he was contemplating his next move and spinning in the air, a screen he did not know was there activated and revealed Bulma, and then she started berating him.

"Stop it, Vegeta," Bulma shouted at him. "You are in no condition to be doing this right now." Vegeta rolled his eyes and continued his exercises, ignoring her. Eventually she'd get bored and go away, or at least that was what he had hoped. "I know you don't want to believe this, but you are made of flesh and blood."

"Stop pestering me, woman," Vegeta replied curtly, finally getting agitated with her nagging. "Leave me alone." But no sooner as he said that, did the strain he started feeling minutes ago take its toll on him. He tried to avoid shouting in pain, and merely grunted his discomfort before falling out of the air and back down on the floor of the GR.

"You know I'm right," Bulma said over the monitor as she watched him trying to get up, "so why don't you just be quiet and do as I say." Vegeta didn't respond to her, nor did he even look at the monitor. "Nothing to say?" Bulma antagonized. "Well, that's good. Now go back to bed and get some rest."

Vegeta opened his eyes and looked to the monitor defiantly. "Not yet," he forced himself to say. "I do have something to say."

"Huh?" Bulma questioned as the shock plaster her face. "What, is something wrong?" Then something hit her; she was supposed to be angry with him for his nonchalant attitude regarding his health. "Or maybe you're going to apologize to me, is that it? Well, if that's the case, then let's hear it."

Having had enough of the woman's lecture, Vegeta shouted, "Leave me alone!"

Bulma's mouth gaped open in both shock and hurt. She had only been trying to help. "Bulma?" She turned to face whoever called her and saw Kaiya coming down the stairs into the lab. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Bulma lied. "Everything's fine? I found Vegeta."

"Where is he?" Kaiya asked hopefully, wanting so much for Bulma to tell her that her dream was false.

"Training in the GR," Bulma told her with a sigh. "He's refusing to come out, but he's still in no condition to be training. He told me to leave him alone."

"Is that why you look so sad?" Kaiya inquired as she moved to sit on a table. "You shouldn't take it personally. He just doesn't like to appear weak. If there's anything I've learned about him, it's that. But don't worry; I can get him out of there."

Bulma perked up a bit and astonishment covered her face. "You really think so?"

Kaiya nodded and smiled. "Yeah, just leave it to me."

Bulma chuckled lightly as the girl disappeared from the room. She had a feeling that Kaiya really could talk some sense into Vegeta, how she didn't know, but she could definitely do it. With that, the Capsule Corp. heiress started to do her work, ignoring the fact that she had felt hurt by Vegeta writing her off. She didn't even know where that feeling came from, but she was not going to focus on it. There were more important things to do than think about why it stung so much that Vegeta didn't seem to like her. Bulma shook her head again and began to work on plans for another invention.

* * *

Vegeta finally managed to get up from the spot on the floor. He knew he had been overdoing it, and being distracted by Bulma did not help him concentrate on his own energy. A knock on the door was heard, and he growled and shut off the increased gravity. Thinking it to be the woman, he got ready to berate her for disturbing him, but froze when he opened the door and saw Kaiya standing there with her hands behind her back and a smile on her face.

"Morning, brother," she greeted. "I'm glad you're okay." Vegeta blinked a few times, not knowing what to say. Only days before, he had hurt her and she was treating him as if nothing happened. "So…I wanted to know if you wanted to go camping with me, Hiei, and our friends. We're going to the beach, so it'll be even better. What do you think? It would be a good break, no?"

Vegeta still didn't speak, but he did step out of the GR and closed the door behind him. Kaiya's smile faltered a bit when he didn't answer her. He started to walk toward the compound without answering her, waiting for her to follow. He sensed that she was not following and paused in his stride. "It's time for breakfast," he said plainly, inviting her to go with him. He didn't see it, but he could tell her smile returned when he felt her energy rise in excitement. It always amazed him how the smallest things could raise her spirits.

Hiei was in the kitchen when they entered, leaning against the wall next to the table as he waited for Bulma's mother to finish making breakfast. When he saw Kaiya and Vegeta enter, he nodded over to them before taking a seat. Kaiya sat down next to him and took in hand in hers under the table. Vegeta wasn't sure what the gesture meant, but he saw Hiei blush, so it must have had some type of significance in the Earthling culture.

"Oh, good morning, Vegeta," Bunny greeted. "I had no idea you were awake, though I should have assumed with Bulma down in the lab already. Hm, I hope she didn't skip breakfast. That wouldn't be good for her, so hard at work. Come to think of it, you probably feel the same with all of your hard work. Don't worry; breakfast will be ready in a minute. Have to keep the strong, hard-working men fed, right you two…oh, but listen to me. I'm a married woman."

Hiei had been drinking a bit of water and nearly choked on it at what Bulma's mother was insinuating. Vegeta too became flustered, but just kept his arms crossed and attempted to keep the heat in his cheeks from showing. Kaiya looked between her boyfriend and brother and just started laughing. "You guys are so funny," she said to them. "She's only teasing."

"Again I say, I will never understand humans," Hiei muttered. "That's almost as bad as the ridiculous pranks our so called friends played on us."

"Oh lighten up," Kaiya replied. She looked over to Vegeta who sent her a questioning glance, probably about what Hiei was talking about. It reminded her that where they knew so much about each other's pasts from her power, they really knew nothing at all about each other's character. There was only so much they were shown, and a lot of it was just memories from when they were younger and only a few sporadic events from the recent past. The trip would definitely be a good way to get to know each other more, as long as they spent some time alone away from her friends at some point.

Bunny served breakfast just as Bulma came upstairs from the lab. When she saw Vegeta was sitting at the table, she mentally commended Kaiya for pulling him away from his training. That was around the time Yamcha also got back from his search around the city. He was about to tell Bulma he hadn't found him, but it would have been a waste of breath seeing as Vegeta was right there. "Good morning, everyone," he said instead, nodding over to Bulma. "So Kaiya, I see you found your brother. I know you were upset earlier not being able to and all."

Kaiya froze, looking like a dear caught in a headlight, as Vegeta looked over to her, this time wondering why she had been upset. Hiei squeezed her hand in reassurance before shooting a glare in Yamcha's direction. Bulma face-palmed knowing that her boyfriend just dropped a huge weight on the poor girl.

"I…I wasn't upset," Kaiya lied. "I was just concerned."

"You did not have to be concerned," Vegeta spoke up. "Those wounds were nothing."

"Can…can we just drop it?" she pleaded avoiding Vegeta's intense scrutiny.

"I think we should," Hiei stated simply before glaring at Yamcha again.

"What did I say?" Yamcha asked defensively.

"Yamcha, drop it," Bulma said sternly. She knew she was being just as defensive of Kaiya as Hiei was and caught the fire demon looking at her. He probably knew she had eavesdropped yet again, and she was thankful that he wasn't calling her out on it.

It got tense and quiet when Bunny came back into the kitchen to check and serve the food. Kaiya kept her gaze on a spot on the table in front of her; Hiei was still having his stare down with Yamcha; Yamcha was looking nervously between Hiei and Kaiya, wondering what he had done wrong; Bulma was doing the same thing, but glancing between Vegeta and Kaiya; and Vegeta was just staring at Kaiya, annoyed that she was refusing to meet his gaze. "So," Hiei spoke up, "I spoke to the detective about camping trip. They're in."

"O-oh?" Kaiya asked, glancing over to him with thankful eyes at a subject change. "That's great. It'll be a nice break."

"What trip?" Bulma questioned, moving the conversation along even though she already knew about the trip.

Kaiya's anxiety disappeared, which Hiei was prepared for, for the others, not so much. "We decided a few days ago that we should go camping on the beach. I just love going to the ocean."

Vegeta instantly remembered seeing her on the beach the day before they officially met, before he knew she was his sister, and also Hiei said she loved the ocean and was always at peace there. How something, a simple body of water, could have such a profound effect on his sister. "When are we leaving?" Vegeta asked abruptly.

Kaiya's face lit up, now knowing that Vegeta finally accepted her invite. "Sometime tonight," Kaiya responded. "We'll have to pack after breakfast."

"Wait," Yamcha spoke up. "Vegeta, you're going?"

Vegeta flashed a glare to Yamcha ad crossed his arms. "What's it to you?"

"I think the trip sounds great," Bulma said quickly in attempts to evade another fight in the house. "Kaiya, you better take a lot of pictures to show me when you get back."

"I will, Bulma," Kaiya replied. She looked over to Hiei and smiled. "This is going to be great."

"Hn," Hiei grunted, a small smile appearing on his face. This was the happiest he'd seen Kaiya since Jiro came back. He would never get tired of seeing her this joyous.

"Well, I hope you all enjoy yourselves," Bulma said smiling over at Vegeta. "I really do miss camping. I think you'll enjoy it, Vegeta."

Vegeta responded with a grunt and continued to eat his breakfast. The table grew silent again, but this time there was a lot less tension. Kaiya finished two plates of food before she tried to sneak off. Vegeta didn't look at her, but he knew what she was trying to do. "You haven't eaten nearly enough, kid," he stated. "Sit back down."

Kaiya grimaced at being caught, but mostly at being called kid. "Geta," she whined, "you know I hate that."

"Don't care," he said in between bites. "Eat more."

"Fine," Kaiya muttered before sitting back down and taking more food. Hiei resisted the urge to chuckle. He knew how much his girlfriend hated being talked down to, and that she hated this new food limit she had yet to get used to, but Vegeta handled it very well.

Yamcha, on the other hand, was just shocked. Everyone was just acting like this type of behavior was normal. Yeah, he assumed Kaiya was acting like her normal self. Bulma did say that Kaiya acted like a girl who grew up on Earth, but Vegeta was Vegeta. He was an alien and a killer, and he was not like normal humans, but here he was acting like a normal older brother. Nothing made sense anymore. He'd have to get more details from Bulma later. Hopefully she wouldn't bite his head off like all the other times they talked about the two Saiyans.

* * *

When breakfast was finish, and Vegeta excuse Kaiya from eating, the Saiyan prince followed his sister and Hiei up to their room so that he could figure out what exactly he had to pack. He was also getting the chance to see Kaiya's room for the first time. He knew that Hiei would be like him and see it as just another room, so all of the decorations had to come from his sister. As he studied them he could tell that she indeed loved the ocean as there were shells and many ocean creatures he had only seen from pictures she'd shown him. Hiei did not seem to mind being surrounded by objects that made the room seem watery despite being a fire demon. Come to think of it, he didn't seem bothered by the beach when they battled either. That would be a mental note to keep in mind for another point in time.

"So are they bringing the food?" Kaiya asked. "We should probably bring a lot extra with Vegeta and me being there."

"Don't even worry about it," Hiei ordered. "Kurama and Kuronue are handling."

Kaiya paused in her packing and looked over to Hiei sternly. "They're stealing again? I thought they wanted to leave that life behind."

Hiei just grinned. "Once you feel the thrill once, it's hard to overcome that urge. Besides, we kind of have a pact, once a year. That's all."

Kaiya rolled her eyes. "Men," she muttered before throwing some clothes in a duffle bag. Then she looked over to Vegeta and smiled. "So really all we need to pack is clothes and a bathing suit. They guys took care of everything else."

Vegeta did not like the idea of wearing Earthling clothing, but other than his battle suit, that was all he had, so he grunted in response and left the room. Hiei and Kaiya continued to pack a few things, including her camera as Bulma requested, before Hiei shut the door. Kaiya froze in what she was doing, curious as to why Hiei closed the door. She felt his arms wrap around her waist and he pulled her into a comforting hug. "Sorry about breakfast," he said to her. "Say the word and that human will be silenced."

Kaiya chuckled, knowing he was only half joking about his death threat to Yamcha. "Oh stop," she giggled. "You know you're not allowed to kill humans…which…is why I don't want you killing Jiro."

It was Hiei's turn to feel frozen, like all time had stopped, as he forced Kaiya to face him. "Do you know what you're saying?" he snapped at her, though it was more because he was worried and not angry. "If he comes after you again, and I have the opportunity, I will not let him hurt you again. I told you this."

"Hiei," Kaiya sighed, "last time it was different. Last time, Koenma had no choice but to let it happen. We were all going to be killed by them, humans AND demons. But that doesn't change the rules Spirit World has set upon demons. Demons can't kill humans. Koenma won't have a choice but to put you in Spirit World jail, and I'm not willing to lose you because of him. He's not worth it."

Hiei's face remained blank, not revealing any emotion. He knew Kaiya was right. Last time was a special case, but now Koenma wouldn't be able to get them out of it if they did take Jiro's life. "There has to be some loophole," Hiei muttered. "But for now, until we can discuss the situation with Koenma, I will make sure that if he ever shows up that I don't accidently incinerate him while defending you."

"Good," Kaiya replied with a soft smile. "As long as that's settled. I've been dreading talking to you about this, but it needed to be said, especially when he came after me at Kakarot's."

"You know…you never did tell me what else happened that day," Hiei brought up. "How was officially meeting your brother's rival?"

Kaiya just laughed and shook her head. "It reminds me of yours and Yusuke's rivalry, a little…I guess…except you guys didn't hate each other. But I liked Kakarot; he was nice. Um, don't tell Vegeta I said that though…not yet at least."

"Hn," Hiei agreed. "Alright, we're packed. Let's go bring this stuff out to the car."

"Okay," Kaiya chimed happily before picking up her bag and skipping out of the room. She was still so excited about the beach, and not even talking about Jiro was going to bring her down.

* * *

Vegeta didn't pack much. He didn't know how long they were camping for, but he felt safe with only packing two outfits and a pair of swimming trunks Bulma and her mother left for him. He still didn't understand Earthling clothing, especially when it could be destroyed so easily in combat. It made him wonder how his sister and her friends fought in such rags.

As Vegeta was pondering Earthling fashion, Bulma came to the door and lightly knocked so that she wouldn't startle the Saiyan. He turned to see who was bothering him and nearly sneered at Bulma. "What do you want, woman?" he growled.

Bulma ignored the bitterness and came inside the room. She took his hand and placed a few capsule in his palm. The Saiyan prince looked between her and capsules a few times before she said, "They're capsule houses. I figured it would be safer for you guys instead of tents." When Vegeta's brow quirked in question, she added, "Kaiya will know what I mean. Tents aren't exactly durable."

Vegeta grunted and placed the capsules in his duffle bag. He stared at the bag, shuffling around in it even though he had nothing left to do in hopes that Bulma would leave, but she stayed and he realized he couldn't get rid of her so easily. Sighing in frustration, he muttered, "Yes?"

"I really hope you have a good time," Bulma answered sincerely. This made Vegeta turn to her, staring at her and studying her. He was searching for a hint of derision and dishonesty, but instead he was looking into the eyes of a woman who looked, dare he say, concerned. He attempted to avert his gaze, but the intensity was too much. For the first time, he was not looking at her like he wanted to kill her. He finally accepted that in some strange way, the two of them had become "friends," or at least something close to it.

Bulma's intense gaze shifted to a light-natured one. She placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze and said, "I think this is just what you need to finally lay back and relax. Make the most of it, okay?"

"Whatever," Vegeta grunted out. "Are we done?" Bulma chuckled, but nodded, and then left the room leaving Vegeta behind with an array of perplexing thoughts, the dominant of which shouted, _"What the hell just happened?"_

* * *

Kaiya and Hiei were waiting by the car when Vegeta finally came outside, and it reminded Vegeta of the time he went with them to Genkai's temple. This time was different, though. He didn't feel anger when he saw how Hiei was acting towards his sister, and he was also a little more welcoming to the idea of being around his sister's friends.

"Well, we're all packed now," Kaiya said happily after Vegeta threw his bag into the back. She closed the door and made her way to the driver's seat. "You guys ready?"

"A weekend near water," Hiei mumbled, "sure."

Vegeta grunted an affirmative, making Kaiya giggle. "Then let's go."

"What took you guys so long?" Yusuke joked, having already gotten a fire started on the beach. The others had finished setting up the tents earlier. Vegeta remembered what Bulma had said about the tents, but he honestly saw nothing wrong with them. Usually when Saiyans went to places such as these, especially on the planets they purged, they slept under the cover of night with no shelter whatsoever. "We were starting to think one of us would have to come find you."

"It was a crazy morning," Kaiya replied curtly, signaling a change in subject. "Where's Kuronue? And I though Keiko and Yukina were coming too."

"Yukina wanted to stay with Genkai," Yusuke stated. "Keiko has some summer class stuff to deal with. As for Kuronue…well, he had something else to do."

"What?" Kaiya asked.

"I'll talk to you about it later," Hiei spoke up.

"You knew he wasn't coming?" Kaiya questioned her boyfriend. "What about Maya and Alexia?"

"They're with Kurama getting some drinks and stuff for later," Yusuke interjected. "Don't worry; we wouldn't leave them unprotected."

Vegeta said nothing at Hiei and Yusuke continued exchanging glances. "Oh, hey Kaiya," Kuwabara called out from a tent. Hiei and Yusuke then flashed a glance towards him. "Um, do you mind helping me with something?"

"Sure," Kaiya said, walking over leaving Hiei and Yusuke alone with Vegeta. When both of them looked at him, he knew something was up.

"Okay, we needed to get her away because honestly, we hate worrying her, especially when it comes to Jiro," Yusuke explained. "Kuronue is in Demon World right now warning a few buddies of ours about the threat of a demon hunter being on the loose. There's something called a Demon World Tournament starting up soon, and that decides the balance between Human, Demon, and Spirit World…and we think Jiro is going to try to do something to mess with it."

"And I care why?" Vegeta asked, crossing his arms.

"Hiei is going to tell you that," Yusuke stated. "I was just explaining. Kurama asked me too…surprising really. Anyways, you two have fun. I'll keep Kaiya busy."

Yusuke walked away leaving Hiei and Vegeta alone by the water. Neither the fire demon nor the Saiyan prince decided to speak up. Hiei continued to glance out into the water before taking in a deep breath and saying, "If certain individuals were to win the tournament, either Demon World would be blocked off from Human World again, or the block would remain down. The biggest issue in the Makai right now is the right a demon has to eat a human. That was what caused the rift between leaders there, and why Yusuke suggested a tournament to be our election. Luckily, someone who believed demons and humans should coexist won, but he agreed to a three year term. It's been nearly three years, so we will have to leave to fight at some point. Hopefully the same demon wins again so we don't have to worry about the balance."

"What of the other rulers?" Vegeta asked. "Are they powerful, and what are their stances?"

"Hn," Hiei scoffed. "Kurama's old thieving partner from a time before Kuronue is one of them, and he believes that demons should feed on humans. If he were to win, I have no doubt that Koenma would erect the Kekkai Barrier once more. Only low level demons can get through in that sense, but then the more powerful demons will be angered and find ways into Human World harming whoever they want to curb their appetite. Women and children are no exception. That is why it is better to have peaceful coexistence. I never cared before until your sister, but I do now. Thankfully one of the other old rulers, Mukuro, has shifted her views. She and I are comrades of sorts. She is the one who made is possible for me to reside in Human World without question. I'm supposed to be on border patrol right now."

"I won't even ask," Vegeta grumbled. Politics like this were nothing new to him, although he always knew who would be victorious in space conquests. Frieza had enough power that no one would question him and those who did would be slaughtered mercilessly. Still, Vegeta didn't see the big deal. From the sound of it, there was only one strong opponent who had the opposing view. He'd be overpowered easily.

"Kaiya doesn't know about the tournament," Hiei continued. "She knows of it, but she doesn't know that I will have to leave for a while for training. I'd rather not, and honestly if it was safe to bring her with me, I would. Where Mukuro wouldn't harm her, I can't say the same for her soldiers, and there will be times where I am pulled away for something else. That means I have to leave her here in Human World, with Jiro on the loose. She…won't talk to many people about what she's feeling if she doesn't fully trust them, but if she doesn't talk, she gets depressed. I know I don't have to ask this of you, but look after her while I am gone. I will do my best to be back as quickly as I can."

"No, you don't have to ask me," Vegeta muttered, "but thanks for the warning. I'll make sure that bastard doesn't bother her."

"Another thing I need to ask of you," Hiei stated awkwardly. "I know you have no ties to my sister, but…I won't be here if something goes wrong at the temple."

"Don't worry about her," Vegeta replied. "I'm sure Kaiya will want to visit her anyway."

"Hn," Hiei mumbled his thanks. Then he grew quiet again.

"Yes?" Vegeta sneered knowing that there was still more.

"Kaiya explained to me what happened in the GR when you two were training," he stated. "All I will say is that I don't hold it against you."

"I wouldn't have cared if you did," Vegeta retorted. The conversation ended there, another subject closed.

"Hey guys!" Alexia's voice rang out. "We got a ton of stuff for the weekend. We also got pennies."

"Pennies?" Yusuke whined. "What for?"

"We're going to play the penny game, silly," Mayonaka answered. "Oh, Kaiya, hey. You guys made it."

"Yeah, Maya," Kaiya replied running over to hug her sister. "And what penny game?"

"Apparently the one where you say something you've never done and then whoever has place pennies in a cup," Kurama said as he carried some groceries over to a folding table. "The girls insisted."

"Do we have to?" Hiei grumbled.

"Why not?" Kaiya answered. "It's not a bad game or anything. It's kind of like an icebreaker."

"A what?" Hiei asked.

"Um…" Kaiya whispered as she thought of a way to reply. "It's kind of like an exercise that people use when you need to get to know a group of people."

"Don't we already know each other enough?" Yusuke sputtered. "No way are we playing some penny game."

"It's not a bad idea, Urameshi," Kuwabara said. "Actually, I'd kind of like to do it to find more out about the shrimp."

"Excuse me?" Hiei sneered. "What the hell do you need to know about me?"

"Well, you're the brother of my girlfriend," Kuwabara mentioned. "You can learn more about me too."

"There are other ways for that," Hiei grumbled.

"Oh come on," Mayonaka whined. "Don't be a spoil sport, Hiei."

Hiei growled and clenched his fists before whispering to Vegeta, "And the immature brat returns."

Vegeta chuckled slightly, understanding Hiei's frustration. He had no desire to play a petty human game, but the thought of getting to know his sister in some strange fashion did appeal to him. There was only so much they spoke about if they spoke. Most of the time they trained or just sat in each other's company. If anyone did any talking, it was Kaiya, but they never had those really deep conversations, just bits and pieces of information. Plus, if the game irritated Hiei so much, Vegeta couldn't resist. "I say we play this game to shut them up," he stated.

"Traitor," Hiei murmured before heading over to the table. "If we're going to play this damn thing then we better do it now and get it over with."

"Great!" Mayonaka exclaimed. "Let's do this."

Chairs were set up around the table with eight bowls in front of everyone. Each person was given a pile of pennies to throw into the bowl. "Okay, who wants to go first?" Alexia asked.

"I'll start," Kaiya offered. "Okay, let me think. Never have I ever gotten into a food fight."

"Food fight?" Vegeta questioned. "What kind of idiotic activity is-"

"Human culture lesson 101," Yusuke joked. "School kids normally throw food and start a fight using food."

"Such a waste," Vegeta scoffed. He was shocked when three people put pennies into their bowls: Yusuke, Kuwabara, and surprisingly Kurama.

"Really fox boy?" Yusuke asked in shock. "You?"

Kurama laughed. "It was too get my mother to stop worrying about me being different from other children my human age. I was too mature, and she was considering sending me to a shrink, but then I surprised her by starting a food fight instead."

"Wow," Yusuke muttered. "A calculated food fight. Even when you rebel you have to plan it. Craziness."

"Okay, I'll go a little crazier with mine," Alexia stated. "Never have I ever gotten drunk."

Five pennies went in this time: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Mayonaka, Hiei, and Vegeta. Vegeta didn't really care about admitting it. He was a teenager and that was the only time. However, Hiei, Kurama, and Kaiya exchanged nervous glances with one another before looking over to Mayonaka who was frowning. Hiei too was not happy about placing his penny in the bowl. His drinking contest with Yusuke wasn't his finest hour. The atmosphere grew slightly tense, and worsened when Kuwabara asked, "Okay, what happened?"

"Ask them," Mayonaka replied. "They know more than I remember."

Kaiya sighed and said, "You know we were just trying to get information about Kiense. You'd been lying to us." Vegeta's eyes widened when he heard his sister incriminate herself. It sounded like she had gotten her sister intoxicated for information. Such a confession came as a shock to the Saiyan prince. "If it helps, I do regret it."

"I know," Mayonaka muttered. "Anyways, never have I ever eaten a snow cone."

"Oh my God, how is that even possible?" Kuwabara asked as he, along with Yusuke, Kurama, Alexia, Kaiya, Hiei, and even Vegeta, placed a penny in their bowls. "Even the shrimp has had one."

"Yeah, and the _alien,_" Yusuke teased. Vegeta was about to blow up at the boy's insolence, but saw the black-haired teen grinning at him. He couldn't believe it; Yusuke was actually treating him the way he seemed to treat all of his so-called friends.

"Speaking of," Kurama spoke up, "Vegeta, why don't you go next? I'm interested to hear something you haven't done."

Vegeta was nearly speechless. He looked over to his sister who was smiling brightly at him and nodded to him. "Never have I ever," he started before pausing to think of something, "seen Frieza in the shower."

A round of laughter rang out on the beach but stopped when Kuwabara turned red and threw a penny in the bowl. Everyone stared at him like he was insane before he sputtered out, "After that crazy mind scan stuff, I had a really screwed up nightmare."

Everyone laughed again and this time Vegeta joined them. That was just priceless.

Of course, Kuwabara didn't find it funny and decided to turn it around on some of the others, though for the moment, he wasn't thinking about Vegeta. "Never have I ever killed a human."

Silence. All eyes shot to Kuwabara, some shocked, some angered. Six pennies landed into the bowls from Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, Mayonaka, Alexia, and of course, Vegeta. Kaiya just stared at Kuwabara with wide eyes before saying, "Really? You really had to go there?"

Hiei had the intent to kill flashing through his eyes, but in his mind he was reminding himself that Kuwabara was his sister's boyfriend. Kurama, though normally calm, was completely enraged. The only human he had killed was for the good of a mission, and where the child was alive now, the decision was something he couldn't rewrite. Vegeta's past was known, but bringing up yet again and in front of his sister left a bitter taste in his mouth and the desire to rip the offending human to shreds. Alexia and Mayonaka did not say where they killed before, nor was it really rocket science to know that for Alexia it was a mission and for Mayonaka it was an order from Kiense.

"And with that," Yusuke said nonchalantly, "the game is now killed. Thanks Kuwabara, that lasted less time than I thought it would. Now we can actually eat something."

Everyone left the table with the two teens still sitting before going off into different directions. Mayonaka and Alexia went to their tent; Kurama went to his bag to take out a book he had brought with him; Hiei disappeared to who knew where; and Vegeta flew off, Kaiya taking off after him.

Vegeta knew Kaiya was following him, and slowed down so that she didn't interpret his actions to mean he was trying to get away from her. He had nothing against her being with him right now, but he needed to get away from Kuwabara for the moment if the boy was going to last until morning.

The two of them landed on a quiet part of the beach not too far away from the campsite. Vegeta stood at the water's edge, his boots getting wet from the incoming tide. He expected Kaiya to come to him, but then looked over to see her taking off her shoes and then walking over to the water before sitting down in the sand and letting the ocean water soak her clothes. Vegeta then decided to sit down next to her.

Kaiya stared out into the ocean with her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on top. Vegeta looked between her and the sea, still not understanding why she was so entranced. "It's so beautiful," she whispered while gazing at the sunset sky. "I love being out here, listening to the sound of the peaceful, yet forceful waves. It's an indescribable feeling."

Vegeta simply nodded, taking her word for it. He too decided to look out into the watery field in front of them, not doing or saying anything, but simply being. The silence was nice, he admitted, but he realized that it wasn't true silence. The sound of the crashing waves and the calls of birds became a soundtrack for them. For a moment, Vegeta felt at peace. He actually understood his sister's feeling.

But then the moment ended when Kaiya sighed. "Hey Vegeta?"

"Hm?" he pressed lightly, not wanting the peace to disappear.

"What was our father like?"

An amalgamation of mixed emotions took over Vegeta when he heard her question. "Why do you ask?" he bit out sternly.

Kaiya grew nervous all of a sudden and started playing with her tail. "Well, I…I just wanted to know. Was he as bad as Jiro? Did he hate me too?"

Vegeta didn't want to answer that. Yes, he had respected his father growing up, but his respect diminished when he was sent away to serve Frieza to protect the planet, a whole lot of good that did. For Kaiya, he had sent her away for weakness, like Tarble, and then kept her existence a secret save from Nappa and obviously his mother. It only meant that the Saiyan king had not cared much for his daughter, but Kaiya didn't need to know that right now.

"He was a proud warrior," Vegeta told her. "Strength was everything to him until he allied with Frieza. Then he became weak willed and spineless; however, he is my inspiration to getting stronger for two reasons, one being that he was the one who told me that I'd be the one most suited for becoming a Super Saiyan, and the other being that I do not wish to be as week as he."

Kaiya took in the information and nodded. She decided to give Vegeta some information regarding Jiro since he answered her question about their father. "Jiro was never like this when I was a kid," she started. "I have so many good memories of his in addition to the bad, which is what makes it harder to accept that my whole like he was playing me. I was too naïve to even consider it, although there was a time when I thought he'd kidnap me. Never expected to be kidnapped by an alien tyrant."

Vegeta just grunted before looking over to Kaiya. She looked sad, lost deep in her thoughts. He didn't know why he felt a small twinge of pain, but whatever the feeling was, he didn't like it. In seconds, Kaiya was in his arms, pulled into a hug that he initiated. Her eyes widened when she felt the comforting embrace of her brother's hug. She felt protected, safe, and happy in that moment, especially since her brother always kept to himself or would hug her back awkwardly when she hugged him.

Vegeta released his sister moments later, feeling some sort of shift inside of him. Never had he felt the kind of emotions or bonds with anyone save for her even when they were younger and she was just a little girl. The two of them went back to sitting in peaceful silence reflecting on their change in relationship before Hiei appeared in front of them.

"Hey, koi," Kaiya said, her voice lighter than it was earlier.

"Hey," he greeted back. "It's getting dark."

"I know," Kaiya murmured as she buried her face against her legs. "We'll be back at camp in a bit, okay?"

"Fine," Hiei growled. "Just, be careful."

"Of course," Kaiya said with a smile. Hiei flitted off after that, and Kaiya's eyes met Vegeta's questioning gaze. "He doesn't like me being out at night anymore, or in the rain. I don't like that either, though I do love stargazing. I do miss going out at night walks to be alone, but I can live with it provided Jiro doesn't get another chance to…"

The atmosphere between the two siblings grew heavy again as they both moved their gaze to the ripples in the water. Vegeta understood Kaiya's need to be alone at times. He himself kept to himself for the most part. It had been a long time since he had had anyone caring for his wellbeing. Perhaps that was why he found himself trying to distance himself at times from Kaiya and from the woman. Still, he didn't like the idea of Kaiya being alone either, especially because Jiro's presence shattered her confidence instantly. If she could defend herself properly, Vegeta would be less concerned. They'd have to work on finding an acceptable medium, especially now that Hiei wouldn't be around for an extended period of time.

"Well, we should probably get back," Kaiya said, jolting up. "You ready?"

"I guess," Vegeta replied casually. "I still want to kill that human, though."

Kaiya let out a bitter chuckle. "Don't worry; I think they all do right now, especially because it serves as a reminder that Hiei and Kurama assisted them in fighting their own kind and he pretty much threw it back in their faces. Let's just say that even though I didn't know them then, I can tell no one likes to discuss it. Sometimes the past is better left in the past."

"Agreed," Vegeta responded, though letting go of the past was not something he planned on doing any time soon. Kaiya did not need to know that, though. For now, he followed her lead and stood up from his spot in the sand, and then the two of them walked back to the campsite without another word.

Back at the campsite, food was already prepared and everyone had started eating. No one was speaking, and Kuwabara was still looking as guilty as ever. Kaiya and Vegeta joined them, and when everyone else was done, stayed back together to finish eating their many helpings. After everyone turned in, save Hiei, things seemed a little less tense, and the three of them enjoyed the peace the night had to offer. Once thing was certain, at least for Vegeta; he definitely wanted to experience more moments like these. Maybe coming on the camping trip wasn't such a bad idea after all.

* * *

A/N: Wow…screw last chapter being my longest chapter in the story. This chapter is my longest chapter EVER on FFN :O It shocks even me. The scene transitions were the hardest to get through. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter. :D


	12. Chapter 11 - This Feeling, Dread?

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just my OCs.

* * *

Another day came with the sun peeking over the horizon. Vegeta was already awake before sunrise, as he was usually up at this time training. Standing outside the tent with crossed arms, he looked at the orange orb in the sky, studying it with hardened features. The wind was calmly blowing and fresh, yet the Saiyan prince felt something amiss. He had woken up to this feeling. He spent hours pondering this feeling. Every time he looked back at the tent he shared with Hiei and Kaiya he felt this feeling.

Something was wrong.

Now, Vegeta had felt this feeling before only two times. The first was when dealing with Frieza. Anytime he had to deal with the now deceased tyrant, he felt a sense of dread, but also a sense of determination. The other time he felt dread was when he was sent to the mudball he was currently standing on, and yet he still felt determination in the thought of training to fight Kakarot again. This time, he simply felt dread.

_That can't be right, _Vegeta mentally scolded himself. There was nothing for him to feel dread over.

He decided to go back into the tent and saw Hiei awake and hovering over his sister. She was still asleep, but tossing and turning from nightmares. That was another thing that was wrong.

Kaiya still seemed to get nightmares after she linked them in the mind scanner. Vegeta, thankfully, had none whatsoever. He had expected her to be fine as well once the truth was out, yet here she was suffering from those terrible dreams.

Hiei did not know Vegeta was awake. He had woken up to Kaiya stirring in her sleep and had not been paying attention to the prince. His main concern was Kaiya. He attempted to coax her awake, but failed numerous times as she continued to throw her weight around in the sleeping bag. When her eyes opened after a while, he sighed and pulled her into his lap, not pressuring her to talk.

Vegeta watched the two fire demons, Hiei stroking Kaiya's hair. The girl seemed to relax, but she continued to stare at a spot on the fabric floor. "I…I can't keep having this vision, Hiei," she squeaked out. "I can't keep watching Jiro attack my brother."

To say the Saiyan prince was appalled was an understatement. His sister couldn't possibly think him to be weak, yet she was now concerned about him fighting a human?

"You don't know that the attack will cause much damage," Hiei assured her. "You knew from your vision what would happen to you, but you aren't seeing more than just the attack. Anything past that, we can only guess at."

"I just don't want anyone to get hurt," Kaiya whispered as she put her arms around her legs and buried her face within to hide her tears.

Hiei sighed and placed a hand on her back. "Kaiya, it will be fine," he stated simply. "I killed Jiro before, somewhat easily. We can do it again, and, according to Bulma, the Dragon Balls won't bring him back again."

"B-but," Kaiya muttered, "what if it happens again? What if I can't get strong enough before he comes after me? Last time…last time I did fight him, and it still wasn't enough and you had to finish the battle for me."

"You will be training. I will be training. We are all training, and he is not going to win," Hiei told her with his voice filled with forceful optimism. "Jiro is a failure, Kaiya. He failed when it came to his deal with Frieza. He failed in attempting to raise you to be fit for that lifestyle. He failed in keeping you down."

"But I failed in staying alive," Kaiya reminded him. "I failed when I told you to leave me alone."

"Kaiya, enough!" Hiei shouted at her. Vegeta glared at the fire demon for making his sister cringe, but he did agree that Kaiya needed to let go of the past. That had to be what was holding her back.

Kaiya was looking at Hiei as if he had slapped her and pulled away from him. Hiei was staring at her with a stern, yet apologetic expression. He hadn't meant to yell at her. In fact, he always did his best to keep his feelings on the situation out of the discussion, but maybe that had been a mistake. He sighed in frustration, placing his hand over his eyes for a minute and taking a deep breath.

"I didn't mean to yell," he said as calmly as he could muster. "But you have to stop, Kaiya. This is nothing new. It's what you've been saying."

"But I still feel it," Kaiya admitted. "I can't make it go away. I've tried. I've used the techniques Genkai taught me. I've meditated like Vegeta taught me. I can't make the pain go away, Hiei. I just can't."

"I understand," Hiei revealed before moving over to where she was. He sat next to her and looked to their tousled sleeping bags. "Believe me, I understand. I still haven't let it go. In fact every time I hear that bastard's name, I feel rage that I didn't think I could feel save for that night."

Kaiya looked shocked, but accepted it and relaxed. "You've never said anything," she pointed out.

Hiei shook his head. "I did not want to upset you further. You seemed to be doing fine before he returned. You were not able to talk about that night, but you had accepted you weren't at fault and that anything that happened was his doing. He shows up again and we're back to square one."

Kaiya looked away in shame. Hiei was right and she knew it, but she could not understand why she couldn't let it go. "I don't know what you want me to do," Kaiya said, the hurt evident in her voice before she scoffed. "If you don't want me to talk about it anymore, then I'll just stay quiet."

"Kaiya," Hiei growled. "That's even worse and you know it."

"It doesn't matter, Hiei," Kaiya returned, telling Hiei that she was serious. "I refuse to be a burden anymore."

Hiei continue to stare at Kaiya who refused to meet his gaze. He had not expected her to shut down on him. "Kaiya, don't do this," he ordered. "I was not telling you not to confide in me. I was telling you that we need to work on this. Stop being difficult."

Kaiya's expression softened before she looked over to Hiei. The fire demon was taken aback by seeing an emotion she had never expressed before save the moment she learned Jiro was a demon hunter, distrust. She had never expressed this emotion with him before, even when they first met and simply hated each other. Kaiya had always trusted him, but now…he couldn't get over the look she was giving him.

"Hiei," she said sadly, "I already made this decision earlier. When were you going to tell me you were leaving?"

Hiei was again shocked. He hadn't been planning on telling Kaiya until the time was right. His thoughts, he believed, were well guarded. The only one who knew other than him, Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuronue was Vegeta, and he had just told him hours earlier while Kaiya was out of earshot.

"You only thought I was out of earshot," Kaiya explained having read his thoughts. "You were keeping this from me for a long time, Hiei. You lied to me."

"I didn't exactly lie," Hiei countered. "I just didn't tell you what was going on."

"Like Jiro," Kaiya jabbed, her voice ringing with muted anger. "You of all people should know how I feel about being misled and kept in the dark. Did I not prove that I was worthy of your trust? That I was trustworthy enough in keeping your secrets? Do you think so little of me?"

"We got closer," Hiei stated as his defense. Kaiya looked at him like he had grown three heads in addition to those three eyes of his. His argument didn't make any sense to her. "I do not want to leave you. If it were up to me, I would bring you…but there are many in Mukuro's stronghold that would come after you for having human blood. Yusuke has become a political icon before you use that as a comparison, but you would be at risk. I refuse to take you from one hell and bring you to another."

"What does that have to do with you not telling me?" Kaiya sneered. "It's just an excuse."

"It's not just an excuse!" Hiei responded with anger as he stood up. "You have no idea, Kaiya! No damn clue, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" Kaiya said with equal force, standing to meet his eye.

"I don't want to leave you with Jiro," Hiei stated again. "I don't want to fight in the damn tournament because that means having to leave you. I don't know how long it will be until I come back. We got closer, and I did not want to say anything to interfere with that. If I had told you, me leaving would be real, to both me and you."

Kaiya still didn't understand, but she let Hiei's words sink in, finally, and then understanding washed over her with the sounds of the ocean waves. "You don't know if you're coming back," Kaiya whispered.

Vegeta, still listening in, narrowed his eyes at the couple. Hiei hadn't mentioned that part to him earlier.

"Yes and no," Hiei answered, confusing both the Saiyan prince and princess.

"Hiei," Kaiya huffed in frustration, "I don't understand. Will you please just be direct for once? I can't take being talked in circles."

"There was a policy last time," Hiei began, "where the losers of the tournament had to act as border patrol agents and deal with the humans who stumbled into Demon World. I worked that post for a long time, and returned briefly, when you and the girls came to Genkai's. It was the reason I disappeared so much. When you returned from your break, and I came back before Mayonaka showed up, the reason I acted how I did was because I was freed from my post. Free to be with you." Kaiya tilted her head in confusion before Hiei took her hand. "I am not going to win, Kaiya, because there are still strides we need to make in our training before we can beat the current ruler. Most likely he will win again and everything will be fine. The only reason I am even going to this is because Mukuro would have my head if I didn't show up, again for political measures, and because Koenma has ordered it."

"Wait, Koenma…he ordered you guys to fight?" Kaiya asked. "I thought he wanted to keep us from fighting in these types of things because of the past."

"Koenma didn't want me to fight," Hiei admitted, "because unlike you and the others, he still sees me as a thief and criminal who wants to wreak havoc on the human realm."

"Oh?" Kaiya replied shyly. "Why? And if he didn't want you to fight, then why are you being forced to go?"

"I had to convince him to keep someone else from fighting a bunch of demons, who would rip her apart for being part human, and now for being of another planet," he finally told her.

Kaiya didn't know what to say. Hiei was not one to be forced into something he didn't want to do. The Dark Tournament had been an exception, but everything else he did in his own time table. He hadn't wanted to tell her for many reasons, including the fact that he desperately didn't want to go. It made sense to her now. If he left her unprotected and abandoned her when she needed him, just as they were getting closer, it would hurt her. If he hadn't taken her place, she would have gotten hurt. Either way, it was a lose-lose for both of them, and Hiei did not want her to know just yet the kind of position they were both in.

"Can I talk to Koenma?" she asked Hiei.

"For what?" Hiei questioned.

"Well, first, I want to tell him I'm unhappy that he tried to control me, putting you in this position," she started. "And then I want to punch him in the face for separating us for who knows how long. Then I'm going to politely ask him to make it up to me."

"Make it up to you how?" Hiei asked, suspicious of his girlfriend's change in demeanor.

"Well," she breathed out, "I don't think it's fair that he can mess with our lives and put us in the position to kill to protect the Human World, but he doesn't allow us to protect ourselves from humans without punishment." Hiei and Vegeta were both watching her, though they had no idea that Vegeta was listening in. "I'm going to ask, no _demand_, that none of us, demon, human, or Saiyan, will be punished for anything that happens to Jiro. He has no right to put us in danger and then leave any of us unprotected from him. I'm done with this."

Hiei smirked at Kaiya, chuckling at her attitude. It had been a long time since he had seen her this fiery. The girl killed by Jiro was gone, and Kaiya somehow managed to get herself back. Hiei didn't know how long it would last, but the fact that she was starting to fight back made him feel a little better about leaving her. "Good to have you back, onna."

Kaiya smiled at Hiei before motioning to their sleeping bags, and as she moved, Hiei grabbed her wrist stopping her. "Still," he said, "it doesn't explain the immediate change in attitude. Are you sure you're all right?"

Kaiya placed her hand on top of his and looked at him seriously. "It was never about what you think," Kaiya muttered. "After I found out about Vegeta and the whole blood experiment thing, Koenma wanted to speak to me."

"Why?" Hiei growled before Kaiya's serious expression told him all he needed to know. "The idiot told him, didn't he?"

"In Kuwabara's defense," Kaiya said with raised hands, "Koenma would have found out about all of this eventually."

"Not likely," Hiei grumbled. "So, what did the brat want?"

Kaiya frowned and looked away. "Um, don't tell Vegeta this," she whispered causing Vegeta to crouch closer. What didn't his sister want him to know? "Koenma wanted to see me to remind me of the rules. Just because I come from a warrior race doesn't mean that I can kill a human, even in self-defense. Then he proceeded to tell me that he'd feel better if he held any existing Saiyans to the same standards. In so many words, he pretty much said if you, me, any demons we know, or any Saiyans meaning Vegeta, and even Kakarot, we know were to kill Jiro to defend me, they'd be placed in Spirit World jail for an extended period of time, and I'm sorry, but I'm NOT losing any of you because of him."

Vegeta clenched his fists and shook with anger at the thought of his sister being given an ultimatum like that by some…whatever…and that this person thought he could hold power over him, the Prince of Saiyans. It was not only insulting, but misguided. It was obvious to Vegeta that this "boss" of the spirit detective team didn't seem to care about the wellbeing of his team. "Hiei?" Kaiya's voice rang, piercing through his thoughts. "Say something."

"I have always hated Spirit World," Hiei stated calmly, "and the only reason I assisted on cases with Yusuke was because that was my punishment for crimes against them. I no longer work for Spirit World, but since we are still a team, that idiot thinks that Kurama and I are still his to command. Truth is we've only put up with it to get inside information and continue to protect the balance between the three worlds. He now has crossed a line that I cannot accept. If he does not accept your terms, then deity or not he will meet my blade in the most unpleasant fashion."

"Tell me how you really feel," Kaiya joked cautiously. "Anyways, I'm sure he'll listen to me. He's already put us in difficult positions, and now it's interfering with both of our security. Hopefully by the time you get back, I can deliver good news that you guys can take Jiro out." Kaiya lied down after releasing herself from Hiei's grip. Still, the fire demon did not take his eyes off of her. "What?" she asked awkwardly, feeling strange being under his forceful stare.

"I thought it would hurt you if I killed him again," he admitted.

Kaiya shook her head. "Hiei, it was never about that," she began to explain. "I didn't want anyone getting in trouble because I can't defend myself. I can't bring myself to fight him, but I want to. I can't stand the thought of him hurting someone else, you know?" Hiei gave a stiff nod in response. "I wanted to avoid having to fight him as much as I could, but it's getting worse. I mean, he attacked a _child_…a kid that has nothing to do with his animosity towards me. I found out that he helped a guy who endangered planets and people for a living…not to mention _suggested _the destruction of Planet Vegeta. And now my visions are telling me he wants to go after Vegeta. He…he can't get away with this."

Hiei said nothing after she whispered her last statement. Instead, he pulled her closer to him in their sleeping bags so that he was hugging her from behind. "Get some rest, Kaiya," he ordered. "Enjoy our trip and then, when we get back, we'll train. We'll work on everything up to including the animosity you feel when fighting family. We can get through this together. You don't have to take this on alone, no matter what Koenma says, and especially not what Jiro says."

Vegeta nodded from his spot before making his presence known to the two fire wielders. Kaiya paled, but Hiei didn't seem to mind Vegeta overhearing. "V-V-Vegeta," Kaiya stuttered nervously. "What are you-?"

"Don't worry about this fool's orders," Vegeta growled. "He holds no power over us. We are Saiyan royalty after all. Make sure he understands that."

Kaiya gave an affirmative shake of her head as she grinned up at him. "I will, Geta. No one else is going to mess with our lives."

Vegeta smirked at his younger sister, happy with her change in attitude. He had been slightly concerned by her lack of Saiyan fighter spirit, but it seemed to him now that she just needed a push in the right direction. This also made him accept Hiei a bit more seeing as he was the one who incited this change in Kaiya's demeanor. Now that she was ready for a fight, maybe training her would be easier as well.

* * *

Bulma was at home reading a science magazine in attempts to find new ideas to improve her inventions. While reading she came across a picture of Dr. Gero and rolled her eyes. The man didn't look all that tough, but then she remembered that he was going to be the one to create the androids that were to go after her friends. She closed the magazine and threw it across the lawn just as Kaiya's SUV pulled up. She had almost forgotten that it was already the end of the weekend.

Kaiya got out and picked up the magazine. "Bulma, whatever is in this magazine that upset you is no reason to litter," she said kindly. "It would be bad in the wind blew it away and it got into the ocean."

"Sorry, kid," Bulma teased, not yet knowing Kaiya hated being called a kid. Vegeta was surprised that Kaiya didn't get as angry with Bulma as she did with him when he called her that. "So how was camping?"

Kaiya frowned for a second before she uttered, "Interesting," as Hiei said, "Stupid," and Vegeta said, "Boring." Bulma chuckled, not noticing the tension among them before getting up from her chair and stretching.

"That's nice," she replied jokingly. "Now, what are you guys in the mood for tonight? My parents are out so we have the whole place to ourselves."

"What about the idiot?" Hiei asked bitterly.

"Oh," Bulma muttered, looking away from the group, although Vegeta thought he caught the hint of a frown. "Yamcha moved out yesterday. No big deal."

Kaiya could hear the sadness in her tone and ignored her boyfriend's, "Good riddance."

"Are you okay, Bulma?" she asked quietly. "Did something happen?"

"It's not important, Kaiya," Bulma lied. "Just let me know what you guys want me to order, okay?"

Bulma went inside to go through take out menus when Kaiya sighed and went to the car with Hiei to unload. "What's the matter?" Hiei asked her.

"I think something happened that made Bulma upset, but she probably doesn't want to talk about it," Kaiya told him.

"Don't worry about it," Hiei muttered. "You have your own problems to worry about. They must just be having another one of their fights."

"I guess you're right," Kaiya replied before smiling. "Now come on. I want to get the car unpacked quickly. I'm getting hungry."

Vegeta had gone into the compound and found Bulma in the kitchen. She heard his footsteps, but didn't know who it was. "So what did you guys decide on?" she asked. When she got no reply, she turned around to see Vegeta standing right in front of her. She nearly fell backwards, letting out a small yelp as she managed to grasp onto the table. "Vegeta, don't do that!" she scolded. "What do you want?"

Vegeta smirked at her before saying, "My hope was to torment the poor fool who resides here, but you will do just fine."

"Vegeta, I'm not in the mood for this," Bulma grumbled before he took the menus away from her. "Hey! Give those back or you don't get food!"

Vegeta chuckled, knowing that the woman wouldn't keep food away from them, especially his sister. "Did he get bored with you already?" Vegeta asked. "About time. If I had to see his face around here anymore, I would have rearranged it."

"Vegeta, shut up," Bulma muttered before crossing her arms and turning away from him. She was not one to cry, but even she felt bad about why Yamcha left and how they got into yet another fight.

Vegeta frowned and glared at the woman in front of him. She was not fighting back like she usually did when he mercilessly teased her, and that irritated him more than hearing her shrill voice. "What's wrong with you?" he asked her angrily.

"What's wrong with me?" Bulma nearly screamed. "What's wrong with you, oh mighty Prince of Saiyans? I just want to eat and get through this night. I don't want to talk, and I don't want to deal with your attitude, so tell me simply what you want to eat and then leave me alone!"

Vegeta was taken aback by Bulma's attitude. He had never once seen her acting like this since he moved into the compound. He heard the laughs of his sister as she and Hiei were coming in with a bunch of their stuff before he said, "Pizza. Kaiya likes it."

"Fine," Bulma retorted before picking up the phone to dial. As she leaned against the counter, she glared at Vegeta once more before waving him off. Vegeta scoffed, not liking being ordered around by a weak female. Instead, he decided to lean against the doorway with his arms crossed, glaring back at her with equal, if not more force.

"Yes, I'd like to order about two dozen pizzas and ten orders of garlic bread," Bulma said into the phone as she stuck her tongue out at Vegeta.

Vegeta rolled his eyes before flashing Bulma the finger. "Yeah, just charge it," Bulma said with a sarcastic tone as she returned Vegeta's gesture. That caused Vegeta to smirk victoriously as he finally brought out the woman's fight. He started walking over to her as Bulma hung up the phone. "I loathe you," she said half-heartedly.

"The feeling is mutual, wench," Vegeta teased before disappearing in a flash.

"Jerk," Bulma muttered, still not feeling any better about her current situation.

* * *

It was tense that night as the four of them ate, but even more tense in the morning when Kaiya had to say goodbye to Hiei. He was going to train with the others for the tournament and later Botan was going to get her to bring her to Spirit World. She was going to deal with Koenma today whether he wanted to see her or not.

Vegeta woke up late, having been up the majority of the night after having a nightmare. He wasn't sure why he had had such a bizarre dream regarding Frieza, him, and his sister. The evidence that it had been a bad dream littered the room since the majority of his borrowed furniture was fried by ki blasts. He leaned back and recounted bits and pieces from the dream.

Their ages were their current ages, and Frieza, who was now officially dead, had Kaiya in his clutches with one hand choking her and the other aimed at her heart, much like it had been when he had killed Vegeta. Frieza was taunting him with the fact that he held his sister's life in his hands. Obviously there was nothing Frieza could do to her now that he was nothing but nutrients for dirt, but still the dream let Vegeta feeling wary. It made him worried about Kaiya being alone on her own. Until she was properly trained, he would have to keep tabs on her.

Speaking of which, she was outside and alone now. This made Vegeta blast out of bed and into the yard, searching for her position. Her energy felt slightly weak and wavering, but he eventually pinpointed it to the gravity room. He grew concerned, wondering if she had known to reset the gravity level before turning the machine on and quickly raced into the GR.

He found Kaiya on her hands and knees, shaking every few seconds from the intense pull she was feeling. Vegeta turned off the gravity levels making the girl relax and lie down on the cold metal floor.

"Thank God," she breathed out. She looked up to her furious brother before smiling sweetly. "Hi Geta. Thanks for turning that off."

"What were you thinking?" he yelled. "Do you not know anything about this room? I train on a much higher gravity than you do! You need to reset the gravity levels before you turn on this blasted machine!"

"I'm sorry, Vegeta," Kaiya said, her face falling when Vegeta started yelling at her.

"You shouldn't even be outside by yourself! It's like asking the enemy to come after you! Don't you know that?"

Vegeta hadn't meant to go off on her and stopped speaking when he saw the tears forming in her eyes. "I..I'm sorry," she said again. "I just wanted to do some training on my own."

Vegeta sighed in frustration. "Look," he growled out, "you need to be more careful with your life for now. You aren't that well trained, and are certainly not ready to be training on your own."

"Ouch," Kaiya muttered narrowing her eyes at her brother. "Tell me how you really feel."

"It's not an insult," Vegeta told her, "just a fact. Where you have received a fair amount of training, not of it is useful for fighting. Simply learning to control your spirit energy or demon energy or whatever it is, as well as sparring does not constitute training. You need to learn your strengths and weaknesses with your own body as well as each and every move you know. The only way to train in the beginning is to have someone who can pick out such weaknesses."

"Fine," Kaiya muttered. "That what do you suggest?"

Vegeta motioned to the door. Kaiya looked at him strangely as she left the pod, her brother following close behind her. "We are going to fly to a location of my choosing, and I will be going at top speed so you better keep up."

Kaiya knew this would be a test for her. She was faster than him on the ground, but having only learned to fly only a month before left her confidence a little shaky in that department. Still, she nodded at him and followed him up into the sky as he led them to their new training field.

* * *

"So, did you get the information?" Jiro asked one of his loyal followers.

"Yes sir," the one who wished him back replied while handing him over a file. "That's all the information regarding the last tournament in Demon World, the participants, and the dropped barrier. I'm sure with your wisdom, you will be able to find the entrance."

"Kiss ass," the girl beside him muttered. "With all due respect, sir. Why would you even want to go to Demon World?"

"What is your name, girl?" Jiro asked.

"Mizuki," she replied. "Again I ask, why-"

Out of nowhere, the teenaged girl received a mild electric shock, knocking the wind from her. After taking several gasps of air, she looked up to a smirking Jiro. "Don't ask foolish questions, Mizuki," he chided. "It doesn't suit you. As for you," he directed to his male servant, "you have done well for me, Jake. You will be rewarded when the time comes. Until then, I want you two to gather as many demon hunter psychics we have on file. We're about to make our comeback, and we're going to start with the ones closest to the fighters in the tournament, especially those friends of my treacherous daughter."

Mizuki glared up at the man, but kept her opinion on what he was doing to herself. She didn't want to receive the same treatment he awarded his daughter right after feeling only a mildest hit from his abilities. No, she would obey him until she could break away. This wasn't what she signed up for when she offered up her ability to protect her young spiritually aware siblings. Unlike the many in the organization, she knew that not all demons were like the ones who took their parents away from them. She only hoped that she would not be ordered to harm anyone anytime soon.

* * *

Hiei was in the middle of sparring with Yusuke as Kurama and Kuronue tended to the garden. They ignored their friends' battle cries and the attacks that subtly missed the garden. Yukina and Kuwabara were watching from the porch as the ice maiden poured some lemonade into two glasses.

"Why are they fighting so hard?" Yukina asked concerned.

"They're just training, Yukina," Kuwabara stated sincerely. "Seems the shrimp has learned so really good stuff training with that Vegeta guy. His stamina is excellent. He even used the Dragon of Darkness Flame earlier and is still keeping up with Urameshi. Whatever training they're doing, it's given him an unexpected edge that no one is going to expect after last year's tournament."

"And that's a good thing?" Yukina questioned. All she could think of was her brother getting harmed by this so called training. She knew that the tournament was important as it would determine the fate of all three worlds, but she did not want her brother getting hurt in preparation for it.

"It is," Kuwabara told her. "It means your brother is going to be one of the favorites to win like last time, and this time, he'll be more prepared for the fights."

Yukina nodded, but still didn't like the idea of the tournament. She was all for Yusuke suggesting it. That was the only way that Spirit World would bring down the barrier. She knew from Kurama that the majority of the demons expected to win would keep the peace between the three worlds. Now that the peace was there, no one wanted to destroy it. Demons were no longer considered threats by Spirit World, and likewise, they were free to reside in whichever world they wanted provided they not kill humans. Thanks to human food, demons learned they could eat other things and new demon trade routes were formed to transport food and goods.

Yet there were still those who wanted to sully this unity. They were the ones Yukina worried about. Not only that, but with Kaiya's father back in the picture, the demon hunters would surely come after them once again. She didn't want Hiei to know that she feared for him, as he would probably think her silly for worrying, but Yukina was starting to stress out more and more as of late. There was something she really needed to tell her brother, or at least remind him of something regarding their race. She didn't know how well he was going to take it.

"Hello Yukina!" Botan greeted cheerily from the roof of Genkai's compound. "AH!" she screamed as she felt off in attempts to dodge Yusuke's Spirit Gun. "Yusuke, you jerk!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry Botan," he waved quickly, before dodging Hiei's flaming fist. He punched back hitting Hiei, but Hiei moved his head with the fist and ended up behind Yusuke hitting him with a flaming kick to the back. "Damn it, Hiei!" he shouted as he tried to stand up, but Hiei smirked and continued his onslaught. This was the first time he was going to beat Yusuke in a fight, and he wasn't going to pass on the opportunity.

"Hi Botan," Yukina finally greeted back. "Would you like some lemonade? I can get another glass."

"Oh, thank you, dear, but no," Botan declined. "I just decided to stop by before finding Kaiya. She wanted to go speak with Koenma today." The ferry girl didn't notice the fight behind her pause. "I have no idea what she needs to discuss with him, but she didn't sound happy about it. I hope she's all right."

Botan froze before turning behind her and saw Hiei glaring up at her. "Listen to their conversation when you take her and then you tell me if you think she's all right." Hiei flash-stepped back into the yard, in another, more offensive stance than he was in."

"Thanks a lot for reminding him, Botan," Yusuke muttered. "I'm the one who has to deal with cranky pants over here."

"Shut up and fight, detective!" Hiei growled out before charging at his teammate.

Yusuke sighed before calling out as usual, "Tell Keiko I love her!"

"Tell her yourself," replies came from Kuwabara, Kurama, and Kuronue.

"Again, you guys suck!" Yusuke shouted as his and Hiei's energies collided as the moved to punch one another.

Yukina shook her head, wondering why Hiei was so upset. Then she thought about Kaiya for a minute. She had become very friendly with the girl, and thought maybe she should talk to her regarding her problem. At least Kaiya would have insight on how to bring up such a delicate subject with her brother. She really had nothing to lose if she did confide in the younger girl who acted like her protective older sister. If anything, maybe she would be able to help her tell Hiei so she wouldn't have to do it alone.

"Botan, can you take me with you?" Yukina asked her. "I'd like to speak with Kaiya."

"Sure, Yukina," Botan chimed. "I hope you don't mind flying. We'll get there faster on my oar, okay?"

Yukina smiled and nodded before kissing Kuwabara's cheek. "I'll see you later, Kazuma," she whispered.

"I'll be counting the minutes, my sweet," he returned before giving her a tight squeeze. "Have fun with the girls, okay?"

Yukina nodded before Botan helped her onto the oar. She looked over to Hiei and waved, but he was caught up in his "friendly spar" to see. She chuckled slightly and shook her head. There were some things about her twin that she'd never understand. Still, she loved him dearly and didn't want to do or say anything to upset him. Hopefully Kaiya would give her good advice.

* * *

Kaiya looked around this new training ground of theirs. It was very mountainous and cold as the winds wisped by each second. It was a perfect place to learn survival, as there was barely anything there except animals that were keeping away from the Saiyan siblings. When Vegeta paused in his strides, Kaiya also stopped. "We're here," he stated monotonously.

"Where is here?" Kaiya questioned. She had never seen such a lifeless place before.

Vegeta just shrugged. "I found this place before I found out about you," he admitted. "It's the perfect place to train without interruptions. Now," he said as he faced her, "I want you to come at me with everything you have. Use no ki, but use whatever attacks you've learned thus far in your training."

"But…but what if I hurt you?" Kaiya asked. "Demon energy and spirit energy are different than ki energy."

Vegeta rolled his eyes and huffed. "No offense to you, but you would not be able to hurt me even if you tried. I've been through a lot worse than a simple spar with another Saiyan. Remember that for our future battles."

"Well, okay then," Kaiya said, still unsure of how much energy she wanted to release. The hybrid took her hands and placed them out in front of her in a move that somewhat resembled Kakarot's Kamehameha attack. "Swirling Fire Storm!" she cried out as small to medium-sized flames shot out and rotated in circles as more flames were added to the swirl.

Vegeta crossed his arms and let the attack hit in attempts to show Kaiya the flaw in her attack. Smoke covered him from her view, and Kaiya worried that he attack had done damage. They were flames after all. They would burn anyone to a crisp if they hit dead on.

"I seriously hope that was not you best move," Vegeta said as he appeared yet again, the smoke disappearing from his body but residing around him. The smoke created a haze that left the battle ground dark. "If it was, you will have to learn new ones. That attack was the worst one you could ever use."

"W-Why?" Kaiya asked, becoming a little insulted. The Swirling Fire Storm technique was the first move she had ever come up with on her own.

"In a fight with multiple opponents, it is fine," he explained, "but in a fight with a single opponent, all they would have to do is move to the center of the storm and they could avoid every hit and then hit you with an attack while you have no ability to defend yourself. You leave yourself wide open for a direct attack."

Kaiya had never thought of it that way. She always assumed that the attacks that used up energy were the best ones to use in a fight, but this weakness seemed kind of obvious. She couldn't believe that she didn't see it, but then again, she had developed that attack when fighting Hiei, and he would never have taken advantage of that weakness, although he had done exactly what Vegeta had said could happen during her graduation match. She had used a different move afterwards to counter. "Alright, then I'll try something different," she stated.

She got into a different stance that reminded Vegeta of Kakarot's Spirit Bomb attack. He started to wonder if all Earthlings had a similar fighting style. These moves they used either left them open for attack or took time to power. Either way, whatever move she used next…he doubted it would be useful to her in a fight against Jiro.

"Wave of Fire!" she shouted as a large wall of flames shot out of her and merged into a wave. The flames moved towards Vegeta, but he was not fazed. Instead, he used a single ki blast, aiming at the middle, to break the wave in half and extinguish it. Kaiya just stared blankly at the open space in front of them, blinking in shock. She had never seen her flames diminished so easily before.

"Please tell me you've acquired a decent move after training for years," Vegeta shouted over to her.

Kaiya shook her head. "Not really," she said shamefully. "I can use my flames in hand to hand combat, and Hiei worked with me on using the katana before we nearly got ourselves thrown out of a hotel. I'm good with strategy and apparently breaking and entering, but that's it. Those two moves are it. I do have the ability to create a shield though."

Vegeta was angry, not so much at her nor Genkai since she had explained her purpose in training. He knew Hiei could not be faulted either as he taught his sister all of the useful techniques she had. He was angry and both Jiro and Frieza. Whatever training facilities Frieza had had on the planet failed in preparing Kaiya for a real fight. Jiro, likewise, never taught her anything, and the Saiyan prince could see why he failed in his promise to Frieza. Kaiya could not fight a powerful enemy, not alone as he had observed before. But there would be times where she was alone, and Vegeta needed to make sure she was prepared.

"Everything you have learned up to this point," he spoke slowly, "forget it. This is a clean slate for the both of us. I don't care how uncomfortable you are with these new techniques, but you need to be able to battle, not just spar like you are used to. Do you understand me, Kaiya?"

Kaiya simply nodded, but was a little fearful of her brother's new attitude towards her fighting style. Sure, it wasn't the most polished style and she knew he hated that she fought more defensively than offensively, but part of her believed he was slowly accepting what she was taught. Now she was a little more hesitant to train with him.

"First thing's first," he said darkly, "we're not leaving this spot until you come up with a move that can hit me." This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Kaiya and Vegeta returned to the compound a few hours later after she had finally thought enough ahead to create a move that Vegeta wouldn't be able to dodge so easily. She couldn't wait to try it on Hiei, but right now, she was just too exhausted. A knock on her window reminded her that she had something to do that day.

"Hey Botan," Kaiya greeted before she noticed Yukina. "Oh, and hey Yukina. What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you later," Yukina whispered. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure, but I have to take care of something in Spirit World first. You can wait here if you want. Hiei should be home shortly."

"No!" Yukina exclaimed. "I mean, it's really important that I talk to you first."

"O…kay," Kaiya replied. "So Botan, did you actually keep quiet like I asked."

"Yes," the ferry girl replied happily, "although I have no idea why you wanted to keep your arrival a secret from Koenma. It seems a bit silly and counterproductive if you ask me."

"Trust me," Kaiya said bitterly, "he will be able to see me."

* * *

Koenma had been alerted to Kaiya's arrival and knew what it meant. He had not expected to have any other interaction with the girl unless he were to give her a mission, which was unlikely considering she now had demon blood coursing through her veins. Well, at least he had a deal for her that would benefit him greatly if she accepted, which he assumed she would.

Kaiya entered his office, ignoring the ogres following her around. Yukina and Botan were waiting outside the room while listening in on the girl's conversation with the Reikai ruler.

"You know why I'm here," Kaiya stated as fact.

Koenma sighed before nodding. "I take it Hiei told you. I was banking on the fact that he didn't want you to know."

"You were almost successful in your gamble," Kaiya admitted, "but enough is enough."

"Gamble?" Botan asked. "What is that girl talking about?"

"I have no idea," Yukina said in shock. She had never heard Kaiya so angry before.

"Kaiya…" Koenma tried, but the Saiyan princess would not have it.

"No, Koenma," she growled. "You will listen to me first. I have tolerated a lot of crap from Spirit World in these last few years. First, you send us on a mission where I have to fight my twin sister and some mental, sadistic nutcase that wanted to kill me. Then, we have to deal with demon hunters we know nothing about, led by my father, a conspirator WITH the mental, sadistic nutcase who you let escape from prison, without any warning that my father had any connection with that. Then he kills me and you explain why I'm able to come back and allow us to kill my father to prevent him from causing any other damage. Then we meet his apprentice, who was dating my cousin and tortured us, not allowed to kill him. You assure us that he won't be a threat, and then he escapes, which only leads me to believe he was the one who wished my father back right?"

Koenma gave no answer and stayed silent as he sensed there was more. "And then because you find out Jiro is back and I have alien blood in me as well as the accursed demon blood you're so damn worried about, you bring me in to tell me I'm not allowed to kill Jiro in self-defense. Hiei and the others can't kill him to defend me or our family members. You dictated that you'd put my brother and his rival behind Spirit World prison bars for eternity if they so much as break a damn bone in that bastard's body. And yet you have the audacity to try to force me into a tournament where demons would eat me alive for being part human, and then pretty much blackmail Hiei into taking my place? This isn't going to work with me, especially when you can't even ensure our protection."

Botan gasped in shock, but Yukina just froze, feeling numb at the fact that her brother was being forced to fight to protect Kaiya. Koenma crossed a line this time.

"Kaiya, what would you have me do?" Koenma asked. "It's my father's law that any demon that kills a human be severely punished. At least I've been able to cut back on the punishment types. Jail time is much more tame than his law."

"If you can change that," Kaiya said angrily, "then you can change everything else." Koenma just blinked at the girl before she raged again. "Come on, oh mighty ruler of Spirit World. You can't even keep the real threats locked up in this place. You mandated that two Saiyans who have nothing to do with this place can be imprisoned for helping me. Jiro is evil, and a bigger threat than we are. He's already gone after a child, who is half human by the way, by attacking me. Had I been hit, I'd be dead again, and you know Hiei would level this place if that happened, forget throwing him in a prison for killing Jiro. You cannot dictate our lives and then forbid us from protecting ourselves. It's like you want us to die. At least add a loophole for self-defense for demons. Demons have become much more tolerant of humans than humans have become of demons. Hell, most people don't know they exist! And why is that? Because your team has done their best to protect this skewed balance you wanted for the three worlds!"

"You make a good point, Kaiya," Koenma admitted. "But I still can't make this deal, unless you are willing to do something for me."

"What?" Kaiya growled. "And if I don't like the answer, I will let my inner Saiyan take over and show you what the Princess of Saiyans can really do."

"No need for that," Koenma told her calmly. "I believe my way will benefit us both greatly." He took out a new file in a red folder and said, "I have a case for you to take while the boys are training for the Demon World Tournament. In this file I have enclosed a description, location, target, and mission goal. I will not tell you what this case is or what type of opponent you will be facing before you agree, a blind mission if you will. No one is better suited than you. I will allow you to make up your own team and give you an allowance for such a mission. If you accept, I will rewrite the law with as many loopholes and changes as you want, and will even have Kurama look it over. When you are done with the mission, I will implement the change and whatever happens to Jiro happens. Agreed?"

"What the hell?" Kaiya said with a shrug. She held out her hand for the file. "Agreed."

* * *

Botan brought Kaiya and Yukina back to the compound before muttering and apology and leaving. Kaiya wasn't mad at the ferry girl as she had no idea what Koenma had put them through. She felt worse about having Yukina witness the whole discussion. The girl was clearly distressed about something else and learning all about the corrupt and unorganized nature of Spirit World would not help things.

"Yukina, are you okay?" she asked cautiously. "I didn't mean for you to have to bear this burden."

"I'm not upset about that," Yukina told her. "Well, maybe about the part that Koenma wanted to force you to fight and then blackmailed Hiei. Now you're going on a mission you don't even know the details to."

"I know," Kaiya muttered. She knew Hiei was not going to be happy about this. Hell, Vegeta would probably find a way into Spirit World himself to eliminate Koenma himself. Still, she took the mission (or was forced to take it), so she would complete it regardless of her boyfriend's or brother's opinions. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Yukina sat down on the side of her bed and looked to the floor. "I have to tell Hiei something," she told her. "It's something he won't take well, and I need advice on what to say. You know him better than I ever could."

Kaiya could detect the girl's sadness and sat down next to her. She pulled the ice maiden into a hug and patted her back. "Nothing you can say will ever make Hiei mad at you," she cooed in comfort.

"I know that," Yukina continued. "It's not me he would be angry with. It's Kazuma."

"What did Kuwabara do?" Kaiya asked fearfully. If the human psychic had done anything to hurt Hiei's little sister, there would be nowhere he could hide that Hiei, even without the Jagan, could find him.

"Nothing bad," Yukina assured her. "It's just…well…" Yukina paused to collect her thoughts before giving Kaiya an ice maiden biology lesson. "When an ice maiden turns one hundred, she becomes pregnant with a baby girl. In our mother's case, she had relations with a man and then became pregnant with twins, me and Hiei. In our culture, those types of relationships are forbidden…like, if you were an ice maiden and were dating Hiei, you would be in a lot of trouble. My relationship with Kazuma is forbidden, just like my mother's was."

"Forbidden," Kaiya said scoffing at the word. "If I ever hear anyone call Hiei a forbidden child or imiko or whatever the heck they termed him-"

"Kaiya, I'm pregnant," Yukina told her. "Mine and Hiei's birthday passed a few weeks ago. I'm having a girl, obviously…but I'm also having a boy."

Kaiya's mouth dropped open when Yukina made her confession. First, because she Yukina pretty much just admitted that she had sex with someone Hiei couldn't stand and reluctantly gave his approval, and second, that Hiei and Yukina were both more than seventy, almost eighty, years older than her. "Wow…" Kaiya said in a daze. "That's a lot to take in. I never knew that about ice maidens. Hell, I don't even know when yours or Hiei's birthday is. He refuses to tell me."

"How am I going to tell him?" Yukina asked.

Kaiya's phone rang, interrupting the conversation. "Hello?" Kaiya asked answering the call. Her throat was so dry, she was surprised she was even talking. "Hiei!" she exclaimed in shock. Yukina's eyes widened in a mix of fear and shock, before Kaiya let out a breath of relief. "No, I don't mind if you stay with the guys tonight. Training is the most important thing right now." After a moment of silence, she added. "Yeah, I'll tell you how everything went tomorrow." She looked over to Yukina and nodded. "There's a lot we have to discuss…Okay, see you then."

Kaiya hung up the phone and then looked over to Yukina. "Two things," she said to the ice maiden. "One, are you and Kuwabara mated, and two, does he know?"

"Yes to the first and no to the second," Yukina admitted. "I don't know how to tell either of them."

"The only thing that will save Kuwabara is that the two of you are mated, and that Kuwabara isn't going to chicken out and bail on you and the babies."

"He would never do that," Yukina assured her. "We mated on demon terms, and he wants to marry me in human culture as well. We've already been talking about kids, especially since he knew one way or another I'd be having at least one because of my race. He just didn't know about my birthday either, and I was afraid to tell him. Like you said, it's a lot to take in, especially since Hiei and I are so much older than you two."

"That's fine," Kaiya said soothingly. "You should tell Kuwabara tomorrow. I'll drive you back to Genkai's. Then I will deal with Hiei. I'll make sure he knows the situation and I won't let him leave here until he processes everything. No sense in him running off in a psychotic rage, right?"

Yukina merely nodded before Kaiya placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It'll be okay, Yukina," Kaiya told her. "Besides, it might be nice for him to have a little niece and nephew to look after."

"Thank you, Kaiya," Yukina said, hugging the girl. "I knew you would help me and understand."

"I know, Yukina," she said softly in reply. Patting the ice maiden's back softly, she repeated herself. "I know."

* * *

Vegeta was feeling that feeling again, that dread. He and Kaiya had trained, and where he felt confidence in her ability to improve and think, he still had little confidence in her ability to defend herself and fight a real enemy. His random nightmares were doing little to ease the feeling as well. Multiple dreams of Kaiya being attacked and dying…he could even imagine how Hiei felt having witnessed it. It was becoming too much for Vegeta to stomach when he woke up after another vision of some caped crusader strangling his sister and cutting into her with a knife. Something was wrong, and nothing was making sense anymore.

To ease his mind from all those dreams, he entered Kaiya's room and found her asleep on the bed next to Hiei's sister who was curled around her brother's pillow. Kaiya was snoring softly, sleeping peacefully except for a few expressions of pain. Her breath began to pick up before she opened her eyes and saw Vegeta. He only stared at her, not saying anything, before Kaiya smiled and waved him off like the first time he had seen her. Something was wrong, and he knew it. And Vegeta did not like it one bit.


	13. Chapter 12 Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just my OCs.

* * *

Kaiya found Vegeta sitting the kitchen the next morning while Yukina was still asleep. He was waiting for her, and she knew why. "Morning, brother," she greeted casually before walking to the fridge to get something to eat. She could practically feel his eyes on her demanding an explanation for the previous night. Sighing, she turned to face him. She had some explaining to do.

"What do you want to know?" she asked him.

"What is with the telepathic ability of yours?" he asked. "And what is it doing to me?"

Kaiya shook her head. Unfortunately, she didn't have all the answers for him. She barely knew anything about this ability other than she had it and received it from an ancestor. "Well, I can read minds and hold conversations with others through a mental link, but it also allows me to see the future on occasion. The only problem is that it's hard to tell if something is a dream or a vision. That's really all I know."

"Why do I keep having these nightmares?" he interrogated more forcefully. "They don't make sense."

"Well…the nightmare the other night about Frieza was from my mind," Kaiya told him. "I can assure you, that was definitely a dream. I had been talking to my cousin back in America and she started asking me questions about my abduction now that I remembered. It was on my mind before I went to bed. Sorry about that."

"Whatever," Vegeta grumbled making her mentally giggle. He sounded like Hiei when he did that. "Last night?"

That's when Kaiya frowned. "Last night, I didn't have the premonition," she told. "Somehow you did, and my mind showed it to me after you were awake."

Vegeta looked at her not revealing any emotion to her, but she could hear his thoughts raging with confusion and irritation. She was really going to have to teach him about blocking out his thoughts. He was an open book if he didn't. "How?" he finally asked after minutes of assumed silence.

"I don't know."

That was pretty much all she could say. Her theory couldn't be proved. If she had to guess, she would have assumed that he mind created a link with his when their minds were being scanned. At first it showed them each other's memories, then it became muted and they could no longer see the memories, and now they were showing each other dreams and Vegeta was now having premonitions. The one person she could probably ask is Hiei, but she had a different conversation to have with him that day and all of this would have to wait.

Bulma walked into the kitchen, oblivious to the anxiety between the two siblings before she grabbed and apple and put the coffee maker to use. She went to reading the newspaper. Then she noticed two pairs of eyes on her and looked up. "Good morning?" she greeted questioningly. Kaiya just nodded at her while Vegeta looked like he wanted to rip her to shreds. "What?"

"What did your blasted machine do?" Vegeta growled. He was completely enraged. He had never wanted to be part of her experiment. Yes, he was happy about finding his sister, but he was not a lab rat and now there were unanticipated side effects to deal with.

Bulma rolled her eyes, not understanding what was going on. "What do you mean, Vegeta?" she questioned, letting out an aggravated sigh when his eyes narrowed at her.

"What my brother means is," Kaiya said a little more gently, "when we were in the mind scanners and my telepathy linked out minds…what exactly happened? Like, what did you see?"

"Didn't the guys tell you what happened?" she asked.

Kaiya shook her head. "No, because I had gotten my memories back and seen Vegeta's. I don't know what they saw."

Vegeta continued to bore his eyes into Bulma when she answered, "I saw your memories, Kaiya. I heard your voice and heard what you thought of everything going on. I could only see Vegeta, but they were not his thoughts. My father said that your friends reported the exact same thing. They didn't see your memories. They saw more about what Vegeta was dealing with than anything else."

Kaiya looked surprised, but instead of freaking out or responding to Bulma, she turned to Vegeta. "Vegeta, try initiating a conversation with me in our minds."

He didn't know if his sister was serious or losing her mind. Starting a conversation, in their minds? What kind of an order was that? "Just do it," she ordered a little more forcefully.

_HOW? _Vegeta's voice shouted in her head. Kaiya had to cover her ears and lean against the table.

"I didn't say 'scream' in my head," she muttered, shaking off the shock from his booming voice.

Now his face displayed his perplexed attitude. He hadn't tried to do that. He was more yelling at himself because he had no idea what he was doing. "No wonder Hiei said our mental blocks were weak," she stated. "We've been connected this whole time."

"How do we stop it?" Vegeta asked. He didn't need another distraction, especially one that gave him visions of the future and invaded his sister's thoughts.

Kaiya looked over to Bulma, hoping she'd have a suggestion, but seeing as she had no information on telepathy, she shook her head. She couldn't help the two siblings. The female Saiyan sighed and leaned her head on the table. "I guess the only thing we can do is talk to Hiei and see if Genkai knows anything about it," Kaiya mumbled into the table. "They're our best bet. If not we have to go to Koenma, and he's an idiot I don't want to deal with, and even he might not know what to do. Unfortunately, that means we're more exposed than we wanted to be and at risk of sharing things we don't want to. Sorry about that…again."

Vegeta just grunted a reply. Of course he accepted her apology, but this was going to make things more difficult for both of them. There were many thoughts of hers that he could not see, obviously due to her training with this type of ability. Like she said, though, his mind was an open book to her. It made him wonder what she would see or what she had seen. She never really talked to him about it before, instead focusing on making new memories with her brother on Earth. Despite being an alien with strange abilities, his sister's abilities were confusing and strange to him, more so than what he had seen in the galaxy.

"Sorry I couldn't offer more to help," Bulma stated. "But this ability of yours sounds complicated."

"It is," Kaiya muttered. "It started back before Jiro showed up. Genkai has said time and time again, that sometimes our spiritual energy prepares itself for stronger enemies to come and gives us new abilities when we need them, but honestly, this ability is too much of a hassle. What good is seeing the future if you can't prevent the visions?"

Both Bulma and Vegeta didn't know how to answer that. This was new territory for both of them. Kaiya's irritation quickly disappeared from her face, and a smile replaced it. "Um, sorry," she said. "I normally don't vent about my abilities like that."

"It's okay," Bulma replied with a smile before she heard soft footsteps descending the stairs. "Who else is here? Hiei?"

"No," Kaiya replied. "He stayed over at the temple last night to train. His sister is here, though."

"I haven't met her," Bulma replied.

"I know," Kaiya said, still smiling when Yukina entered the kitchen. "Good morning, Yukina."

"Good morning, Kaiya," the ice maiden replied. She then noticed Vegeta and Bulma in the kitchen. "Oh, good morning to both of you as well." She gave a small bow to show respect and thanks for her being able to stay there.

Bulma just chuckled slightly and said, "Like I told Kaiya, no reason to be so formal. I'm Bulma, Yukina, and it's really nice to meet you."

Yukina only smiled before taking a seat at the table next to Vegeta. Kaiya said down across from her. The two of them remained silent as Bulma programmed the cooking bots to prepare breakfast for them. She then disappeared to her lab while the three of them sat at the table, waiting. Vegeta hadn't really been around Yukina that much, and all he knew of her was that Hiei cared deeply for her and that he hated women crying because the girl's tears could crystalize and she was kidnapped because of it.

Yukina started fidgeting a bit with a fork that was on the table. Vegeta noticed her lower arms that were normally covered by the kimono she wore and saw burn scars. Yukina noticed him looking and quickly put her arms down, blushing slightly and looking away shamefully.

Kaiya noticed the interaction and worried about Yukina's attitude towards anyone seeing her scars. She had a few herself, and she knew Vegeta had plenty. To show Yukina that scars didn't really matter to Saiyan warriors, she herself moved her hair from her left shoulder revealing a deeper burn scar that neither the ice maiden nor her brother had seen. Her hair or clothes usually kept it covered but in was still there.

"How did that-?" Yukina started to ask before covering her mouth. "I'm sorry; that was rude of me."

"Not at all, Yukina," Kaiya assured her. "Scars are just reminders of battle we've fought and challenges we've overcome. I don't really mind it. This came from Kiense."

"Your…sister's boyfriend?" Yukina questioned.

"Not exactly," Kaiya answered.

"What do you mean 'not exactly?'" Vegeta asked bitterly.

"It wasn't him exactly," Kaiya explained. "It was actually my first mission with Spirit World. There was this demon who was trapped in Spirit World jail who they lost track of and he was trying to destroy the spirit detective team. He had gathered a large following of human psychics to help him who assumed demons were evil and they had no idea what he was trying to do."

"Is that the guy you were talking about yesterday with Koenma?" Kaiya looked to Yukina and nodded. "Didn't you say Jiro had something to do with him?"

"Yeah," Kaiya muttered. "Maya left a note saying that there was another psychic that worked for Kiense back in the day, but he broke away from the group. She hadn't met him, just heard of him. The real Kiense was not about death and destruction at all, and obviously being a demon made him believe that not all demons were evil. Jiro obviously did not like that ideology and formed a group of psychic demon hunters instead."

"'Real' Kiense?" Vegeta growled. This whole situation was starting to irritate him. For someone who was connected to his sister's mind, he sure couldn't pick out her point any quicker. And why couldn't he see anything from her memories about past fights she had been in with. He knew nothing of her fight with Mayonaka, nor this Kiense demon, and certainly not when Jiro attacked her. He only saw flashes of the battle they had with him after. Similarly, she didn't see all the defining moments of his fights either, like when he fought Kakarot or Frieza. She knew of the things he did, but not much about it. This power obviously had its limits.

"There was a teenaged girl working for him named Suze," she explained. "And she had an ability that allowed her to replace alternate versions of the person she used the ability on. Kiense was very passive, but he knew he needed more aggression to go against Spirit World. He ended up replaced with a more sinister and sadistic version of himself, and that's why Maya was against us at first. She was trying to protect her actual boyfriend who was trapped in another universe. Anyway, the guy we had to deal with decided to attack me when Hiei and I found him. Kiense is a fire demon, so there was a small rivalry going on between the three of us. This scar if from the severe burn he left. He seemed to know that my left hand was my dominant hand. Hiei wasn't happy about it."

"I didn't know any of that," Yukina said sadly. "No one tells me these things. I've learned more this past day about stuff with Spirit World than the whole time I knew the guys."

"Yukina, don't worry," Kaiya told her. "Honestly, the stuff we weren't there for, we had to blackmail the guys into telling us. The rest we've experienced. If you don't have to experience it, we'd rather you not. You've seen enough in your life." Kaiya gestured to Yukina's covered arms, reminding Yukina that she had scars of her own. Her not knowing everything going on was a way to protect her. She already knew a lot more ever since Hiei admitted he was her brother.

"You're right, Kaiya," she said sweetly. "Thank you."

"No problem," Kaiya told her as the bots brought food over to the table. "Now, let's eat. I'm starving."

Vegeta saw a side of Kaiya that day that he hadn't seen before. She lived true to her nature; she could be upset one minute and then happy the next, not letting what she was upset about affect her. She acknowledged her past scars with pride and dignity and refused to let another be ashamed of them. When she smiled at him, he realized that she was taking pages from his book. He too was never concerned with such superficial appearances and took pride in both his past successes and failures (although his failures left him more angered). He was still irritated by this whole telepathy thing, but it was mitigated by the respect he held for his sister. All she needed now was to train herself and develop a new style and she would be a Saiyan warrior worth contending.

* * *

"We don't know what time we'll be back," Alexia told Kuronue. "Kaiya wanted Mayonaka and me to meet her at Genkai's."

Kuronue had returned home in the morning to check on the girls. He was not happy when the two of them were suggesting that he stay there and let them run to Genkai's. He shook his head and crossed his arms in reply. There was no way he was letting the girls go there alone, especially when he would still be training there. "Please, Kuronue," Alexia pleaded. "It's important."

"The only reason I **allowed** you to stay on your own last night was because you were protected by Kurama's plants and staying in one spot," he stated. "There is nothing you can do or say that will cause me to let you go gallivanting to Genkai's temple alone, especially when I need to go back there."

"Fine," Alexia sighed, "but can you at least take training into the forest or something. Kaiya said that it's a private discussion."

"I can do that," Kuronue said with a nod. Alexia looked away from him for a moment, the bat demon growing concerned at her behavior. "Alexia, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she lied. "Kaiya just has something she needs mine and Mayonaka's help on."

Kuronue didn't buy it, but it was obvious that Alexia didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering her. He knew from the past that pushing her would not lead her to open up, but to become more closed off, especially considering his thieving past and her current spy profession. The fact that she had allowed herself to get closer to him within the last year was a giant leap forward. He wasn't going to ruin what little trust she was putting in him.

"I'll take you two there now."

* * *

"Hey, Bulma," Yamcha greeted awkwardly. He found her outside by the pool and decided now would be as good a time as any to apologize for their fight. "Look, I didn't mean to blow up on you, especially on something as petty as two Saiyans staying her." Bulma didn't respond to him, just stared at him waiting for him to continue. "I don't want them to come between us and I guess I just felt a little left out since your attention was mostly on them."

Bulma shook her head. "Are you done?" she asked him. When Yamcha nodded, she let out a bitter chuckle. "That was so not an apology, Yamcha."

Yamcha sighed in frustration. "What do you want from me, Bulma?" he nearly shouted. "You aren't exactly making it any easier by siding with them on EVERYTHING! How do you expect me to react?"

Bulma stood up and walked over to her currently ex-boyfriend. She pointed a finger into his chest and poked him with nearly every statement she spoke. "You do not get to decide what I do with my time; you do not get to decide who I invite into my home; and you certainly do not get to decide who I give my attention to. If you had paid any attention while you were here, you would have gathered that Kaiya is dealing with something no child should go through."

"She's an adult, Bulma," Yamcha muttered.

"Shut up," she ordered. "I'm not done. I'm not talking about age, Yamcha. Come on…you grew up on your own, right? You remember how painful that was, right? She grew up without her father for the most part and her mother is not here to help her deal with all of this."

"She's not human, Bulma," Yamcha tried to point out.

"So?" Bulma snapped. "She was raised human, by a human. Before Frieza got her and before her FATHER killed her, she was a normal human with fire abilities. She didn't ask for this, and damn it, I was going to help her through it. I don't know if you noticed but both me and her barely hang out around other females, so I'm sorry if you felt left out when I took time to spend with her."

"Okay, fine," Yamcha muttered. "I'll give you that, but what's with you hanging out with and defending Vegeta all the time? He tried to kill us, Bulma. He succeeded in killing me! How do you forget that?"

"I didn't forget it," Bulma admitted. "Look, I saw a lot of stuff about him…stuff I will NOT tell you because it really wasn't any of my business to begin with. I found out because I went behind his back, but he's not as bad as he seems, Yamcha. If you let go of whatever anger you have towards him, you'll see what I see."

"What do you see, Bulma?" Yamcha scowled. "Because all I can see is the guy who keeps bragging about his power, the Super Saiyan legend, and blatantly says that he wants to kill Goku and destroy the planet. Remember Goku…our childhood friend? Does that tell you anything?"

"He also said he wants to fight the androids, and Yamcha, I hate to say this, but we need all the help we can get with that," Bulma reminded him. "Besides, I don't think Vegeta wants to destroy the planet anymore. It's his sister's home. You have no idea how much she impacts him. As for his rivalry with Goku, I think that's changed to. I mean, he let me take her to meet him so that she'd have protection for a day he wasn't available. Who knows what will happen when the androids are gone, but I don't think it's that cut and dry anymore."

"And what if you're wrong?" Yamcha challenged. "What if he's playing all of you and he still plans on destroying us despite what it would do to his sister. A leopard doesn't change his spots, Bulma."

"Yamcha, this is exactly why I broke up with you," the woman pointed out. "No one can change? What about you? What about Tien and Chiaotzu? What about Piccolo for Kami's sake? Why shouldn't we let Vegeta have the freedom to change? Why hang onto the past when that clearly isn't a factor? Goku accepted it. He was the first one to let Vegeta go."

"He let Frieza go," Yamcha said deadpanned. "I love the guy, but there are times where I can't agree with his decision."

"Yamcha, we can't keep having the same argument," Bulma said in exasperation. She was getting tired of defending absolutely every choice that everyone has made, especially her own. Back when she invited Vegeta to stay, she was being a Good Samaritan. The estranged Saiyan had no place to go…at all. There was nowhere he could go, even into space, unless he had returned home with her. Lately, she had been accepting her initial impulse more and more. Yes, Vegeta was still distant, arrogant, and generally annoying, but he was also more playful, dare she say kinder, and he was incredibly protective of a sister he found because of her father's invention. If she had the opportunity to go back in time and take back her invite, she wouldn't. Everything had happened for the better.

"You're right," Yamcha told her. "But I don't agree with any of this."

"And I don't want to keep hearing about it," she retorted. "So here's the deal. This breakup still stands, unless you can stay completely silent on this matter. If I have to hear it again, I'll sick the fire demon on you. Hiei still can't stand you, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Yamcha muttered. "It was harmless flirtation. They need to get over it."

Bulma shook her head. "No, Yamcha," she said quietly. "You do."

"I can't."

The two humans stared at each other, ignoring the wind that was picking up. Bulma shivered slightly as the cool air grazed her skin, but stood her ground nonetheless. Yamcha frowned and then sighed, his head cocking away from her. "I guess this is it, huh?" he asked. "Ten years ruined because of drama over Saiyans."

Bulma narrowed her eyes at him. "I guess it is." She wasn't going to place blame anywhere, even though this was all on him. "Goodbye, Yamcha."

"Yeah, see ya," he whispered before flying away from the compound.

Vegeta jumped down from the tree he had been resting in before the two voices had woken him up. When his feet touched down, Bulma huffed in frustration. "How much did you hear?" she asked. She wasn't mad that he overhead. She definitely learned enough about him and Kaiya by overhearing things that did not concern her. With how loud they were being, she was surprised that her neighbors hadn't complained about the fight. At least the fight did concern Vegeta somewhat.

Vegeta didn't answer her. He just stared as she crossed her arms and started rubbing them with her hands. She was shivering, and Vegeta was again reminded of human weakness. He took off the shirt he was wearing and held it out for her to take, which she did. It covered her like an incredibly short dress would. "Thanks," she mumbled before growing silent again. She looked up at the sky and realized that it was growing increasingly dark. "I guess it's going to storm. I hope Kaiya decides to stay at the temple. It would suck for her to get caught in this."

Vegeta searched for his sister's energy, as well as heard her thoughts. Hiei shared with her the same sentiment. "She is staying," Vegeta assured Bulma.

"Good," she replied. Then she half-smiled at the Saiyan prince. "I guess we're on our own tonight."

Vegeta shrugged, ignoring the strange feeling seeing her smile tugged on. "Apparently."

"We should get inside now," she suggested. Grabbing her towel, she began to walk back towards the house. Vegeta had yet to follow her. He saw he shoulders slump before registering an irritated, "You coming."

"Hmph," he responded, stubbornly crossing his arms and then following Bulma back into the compound.

* * *

"I hate it when he trains," Mizuki muttered. "It always causes these freaky thunderstorms."

"Get over it, Miyu," Jake snapped using his nickname for the girl. "It's been a while since I've seen his abilities in action."

"You actually approve of the way he killed his daughter?" Mizuki hesitantly asked.

"You don't?" Jake questioned without taking his eyes off of his master. "Miyu, she's a demon. Even if she was human before, she sided with demons. She betrayed our master. Whatever she's experienced as a result of her treachery, she deserves."

"You betrayed her cousin," Mizuki reminded him. "Are you saying that she deserved to be punished and you don't?"

"Actually, I didn't betray Nariko," Jake countered. "She confided in me about her cousin being a demon. I was only planning on going after Kaiya when I found out she was Jiro's daughter. I would have let Nariko go, but she chose Kaiya and therefore betrayed me. She's just like that demon hybrid, and I won't tolerate betrayal."

Mizuki wasn't even going to point out that Nariko would have been betraying Kaiya if she truly sided with the demon hunters, and that would have meant betraying her family. Yeah, Kaiya had betrayed her family for her friends and boyfriend, but she had to have had a good reason. Seeing Jiro shoot his electrical attacks at unsuspecting villages in the distance led her to think differently of the group she joined. Unfortunately she was in way too deep now, and betrayal and doubt would be punished. She only hoped that Jiro would be unsuccessful and that her new boyfriend would get over his obsession with the demon hunters. Jake needed to snap out of it.

* * *

"Did you tell Kuwabara?" Kaiya asked. Yukina responded with a nod. "And?"

"He's excited about being a father," Yukina told her. "He's already talking about names and applying for a position at Capsule Corp. that Bulma's dad offered him. He says it's good hours and pay, and he gets vacation time, so it wouldn't be like we wouldn't see each other. I don't really understand the concept of a job."

"Don't worry about it," Kaiya said laughing slightly. "That's all good news. It means that it's a really good job that won't take his time away from you or the babies. It also means that whatever work he's been doing at Capsule Corp., Dr. Briefs must really be impressed with him."

"That's good to know," Yukina said happily. "So…have you spoken to Hiei yet?"

Kaiya felt bad that she hadn't. When she got there, Hiei had already been out in the forest training. She and the girls had yet to go over her mission she accepted from Koenma. Kaiya had hoped that they would return to Capsule Corp. that night so she could tell him both about the mission and about Yukina's pregnancy, but with the storm, driving was not the best idea. She would have to take her chances and tell him and hope he didn't decide to go after Kuwabara while they were all trapped at the temple.

"I will tell him when he gets back from training," Kaiya replied. "I'll tell him about the mission first so that he's angrier at Koenma than Kuwabara."

"What is this mission exactly?" another voice asked. Kaiya looked above her to see Kuwabara's older sister, Shizuru, standing over her.

"Glad you can make it," Kaiya told her. "Now that you got here, I need to talk to you, Maya, Lexi, and Botan about it."

"Why are you dragging me into this?" Botan whined.

"Because you were Yusuke's assistant as Spirit Detective, and we may need that knowledge with this case," Kaiya explained. "Blame Koenma for doing this."

"Do I want to know?" Alexia asked, entering the room. "I'm getting nervous, especially since your treating this like a spy case."

"I don't know what kind of case it is," Kaiya admitted. "It was the only thing I could do to get Koenma to be lenient on any of us if we had to kill Jiro again."

"You've got to be kidding," Mayonaka grumbled. "Is he trying to get us killed?"

"I haven't decided yet," Kaiya returned. "Okay, so let's look at this case file. I want to know what exactly we're doing before I tell Hiei what Koenma's putting me through."

"Great," Shizuru replied. "But why are we here exactly?"

"Well, Koenma said I could make my own team, and honestly, I'd rather have you girls with me than the guys. I mean, they're training, and also, they'd be pissed about this, plus Koenma wants me to do this because they're training. I trust all of our abilities to figure this stuff out."

"I'm game," Shizuru replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, me too," Mayonaka agreed. "It's the least I can do for everything that happened with Kiense." Alexia cringed, looking a little apprehensive about it, but only Mayonaka seemed to notice and flashed her a questioning look. Alexia shook her head and went back to listening.

"I want to help too," Yukina said, shocking everyone. "What?"

"Yukina," Kaiya started, "not that I don't love you like my own sister, but you aren't really trained for stuff like this. And you have to think about two other people and what could happen to them."

Yukina knew Kaiya was talking about the pregnancy, but the way she worded it led the others to believe she was talking about Hiei and Kuwabara. "I know," she said calmly, "but I can help heal you guys. I don't want to be kept in the dark again."

Kaiya pursed her lips together. She really did understand where Yukina was coming from, but she couldn't be the one to agree to putting Hiei's little sister in danger. Whether he loved her or not, he would never forgive her if something was to happen to her. "I'll discuss it with Hiei later," she offered. "I can't go behind Hiei's back and agree to letting you come when I know he won't approve."

"Thank you for trying at least," Yukina responded with thanks.

"So file," Shizuru said bringing Kaiya's attention back to the mission.

"Right, right," Kaiya responded opening the red folder. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the location of this mission. "Greece?" Mayonaka nearly passed out when she heard that.

"What does it say, Kaiya?" Alexia asked, ignoring her other cousin banging her head on the table.

"Well," Kaiya breathed out, "Koenma is an asshole, I have to admit. Some guy that used to be a demon hunter under my father broke away after Jiro was killed and came up with his own team centered in Greece, the place Mayonaka was raised and met Kiense."

Shizuru lit her cigarette and took a long drag before motioning to Mayonaka's unconscious form. "Is that why she just knocked herself out?"

"Pretty much," Kaiya muttered. "And Kurama was right."

"About what?" Botan inquired.

"Well, it's obvious Koenma knows who this guy is or he would have a general location, picture of a man in a cloak, or details on the man's goals," she pointed out, "but he gave us no name and no exact location save a city. When he did that with Kiense, Kurama told me he also did this on the Sensui case and the reason he is so hesitant to release more info is because he feels we can't win."

Alexia looked slightly nervous, as well as Botan, although Botan was more nervous because she knew what Kaiya was saying was the truth. He always sent Yusuke on cases he knew he shouldn't be able to win because he felt he had no other choice. Shizuru stopped smoking only for a moment to give her feelings on the situation.

"So let me get this straight," she said calmly. "My baby bro has been helping Yusuke with these cases for how long now? And every time, Koenma has given them nothing useful in regards to information?"

"You mad?" Kaiya asked.

"Nope, not mad," Shizuru replied stoically. "Furious is more like it, but whatever. So you have to do…what exactly?"

"Well, for mission goals it says find the base, disband the small team (at least we know its small), and bring the leader to Spirit World for questioning," Kaiya reported. "That's it."

"So, to recap, a baby deity who is supposed to have power and knowledge of everything so that his teams can actually fight is holding back information that could save us a lot of time and energy, and possibly our lives, yet refuses to give us said information because of his fears that the girl he demanded to take this case can't win," Shizuru points out. "That girl happens to be the girlfriend of a feisty and powerful fire demon with an incredibly bad temper and friends with more demons that hold more weight in the three worlds than he does. All the while, he's using this case as blackmail to allow you guys to defend yourselves, and ignoring the fact that if word gets out, he'll have four powerful demons, my brother, and steroid driven aliens ready to tear him a new one."

"To be fair, Saiyans don't use steroids," Kaiya corrected. "They train…a lot, and have a ton of power."

"Case and point," Shizuru stated monotonously. "Koenma is signing his own death warrant. It would be much easier to grant you the right to defend yourself now than to just say 'make a team and bring this bad guy in for questioning.' What is he going to ask you to do next? Bring Jiro in for questioning? Because honestly kid, you don't deserve that."

"Jiro won't be brought in for questioning," Kaiya assured her. "If there was nothing Koenma wanted to know from him before, there's nothing now. I know all I need to know. He's the reason nearly and entire race is dead. The only good thing that came out of that was that the crazy lizard decided to experiment on me, and now I have a brother. Everything else, he can't make up for."

"I don't even want to know how I ended up in Greece and not part of the deal," Mayonaka said, finally regaining consciousness. "I mean, if he was there when we were born, how did we get separated?"

"Maya," Kaiya started, "you really don't want me to answer that." She looked back down to the files and said. "Okay, pretty much, we're all, give or take Yukina which we won't know until I actually talk to Hiei, going to Greece to disband a separate team of demon hunters. He's going to give us an allowance for anything we need from housing to travel. Is there anything else we need to consider?"

"We're going to Greece," Mayonaka said. "So I think that those who know the lay of the land should be waiting there for us. Want me to give Kiense a call?"

"Sure," Kaiya replied. "We need all the help we can get."

* * *

Hiei knew something was up when he came in and Kaiya was still awake. He knew it wasn't the storm as the soundproof room blocked out the sounds. Finding her reading was also not a good sign, especially since school was over. It usually meant that she was using it as an excuse to stay up later than she should, which also made him feel uneasy as she did that the night Jiro attacked her. He could have questioned her on it, but instead stayed quiet getting out of his bloodied shirt and getting into the bed.

He lied on his side next to her, leaving the light on and waiting for her to speak. "I'm not washing that," she said smoothly causing the fire demon to chuckle. She always managed to break the tension somehow.

"What in that red folder are you finding so interesting?" he mumbled into the pillow.

"Oh, that," she replied wryly. "Um, yeah, so about Koenma…"

Hiei's amusement disappeared in a flash as he sat up and faced her. "What?" he growled through gritted teeth.

"Well," Kaiya started hesitantly, "he offered me away to 'allow' us to defend ourselves. He just wants me to go on this case without you guys and told me to make my own team for it. And not to add insult to injury, but Yukina kind of wants to help too. I told her I'd talk to you about that and…something else."

"I swear if Koenma has any conditions regarding her in this-"

"No, no, it's not that," Kaiya continued nervously. "It's just, well, you never told me your birthday was a few weeks ago."

"I don't celebrate my birthday," Hiei stated factually. "You knew this."

"Yeah, I know that," Kaiya sighed, "but it is Yukina's birthday too. And, well, Hiei, how old are you?"

"You're joking, right?"

"Answer the question!"

"I thought you didn't care about that," Hiei muttered while lying back down.

"I don't, Hiei," Kaiya said in reassurance. "It's just that, you and Yukina are twins. Please just answer the question."

"And you get mad at me for beating around the bush," Hiei retorted. "I'm one hundred years old, Kaiya." After he said it, something in his mind clicked. "Oh."

"Yeah," Kaiya agreed. "Yukina is pregnant and…there's kind of more."

Hiei's eyes burned with anger and irritation. "Is this your way at getting back at me for all the times I've been indirect?"

"It's not that, Hiei," Kaiya breathed out. "It's that, it's difficult to say…Yukina is having twins."

For a second, Hiei was silent before he began to chuckle wryly. "That's funny, Kaiya," he said jokingly, although she could feel his energy fluctuating slightly. "It sounds like you said she's having twins, but the only way that could happen is that the idiot did something he shouldn't."

"Hiei," Kaiya said carefully. "Just stay calm, okay? They're kind of mated now, and Kuwabara is planning to marry her and be there for her and the kids. Everything is fine."

Hiei sat up, ignoring Kaiya's hand on his back. He walked across the room, picking up his sword. He acted as though he was admiring the sheathed weapon. Kaiya was growing even more concerned by Hiei's silence than when he was trying to play off the situation. She got out of the bed to take a few steps his way. His eyes froze her in place and he motioned for her to sit on the bed. Kaiya's body responded before her mind even registered that he was at the bedroom door.

"Don't worry, Kaiya," he said in a dangerously low and playful voice. "This won't take long."

Kaiya just sat in the room as he left it trying to figure out what he was planning on doing. Yukina was not going to be happy when Hiei showed up at her room. Surely he wouldn't think about harming Kuwabara, or at least she hoped he wouldn't. Then she thought about her own brother and briefly wondered what he would do if she were in Yukina's position. "I don't even want to know," she whispered before closing the light in the room. The only thing her mind processed right now was lying down on the bed and hoping that Hiei would keep his cool.

* * *

The next morning, Kaiya woke up and it was utterly silent. There was no storm outside, evidence given by the sun peeking through the semi-closed window. She heard no footsteps or voices, which was rare when Genkai had a full house. There was no sound of the tea kettle going off, which it always seemed to. Worst of all, Hiei was not lying next to her in bed.

She could have assumed the worse, that he boyfriend mutilated Kuwabara, but she decided to go for something different. Getting out of bed and tossing on a robe, she left the comfort of the room and went outside. She smiled at what she saw.

Hiei was sitting in silence seething, at the outside table with Yukina and Kuwabara. Kuwabara seemed nervous, but Yukina was smiling. Obviously something good had come out of whatever happened the night before. When Hiei saw Kaiya, he looked incredibly relieved.

"Good morning, Kaiya," Yukina greeted. "Breakfast?"

"Sure, Yukina," Kaiya replied with a smile. She took a seat next to Hiei and grabbed his hand which he instantly accepted and laced their fingers together, squeezing it incredibly hard. Kaiya had to force herself not to laugh at his behavior. It was obvious he still wanted to take out Kuwabara and was trying to refrain with every fiber of his being. She gently rubbed his hand with her thumb, loosening his grip on her slightly.

"So," Kuwabara started awkwardly, "Hiei told me about Koenma and he said Yukina wanted to go with you."

Kaiya nodded at the redhead. "Yeah. Your sister, Botan, Maya, Alexia, and I were talking about it and Yukina wants to help. Maya is contacting Kiense. Most likely we'll be seeing him, Marissa, and possibly Toshi, although they'll probably have Toshi stay with the kids for protection, so yeah."

"You are taking Kuwabara with you," Hiei demanded. "He will be looking after Yukina." Kaiya realized that's why Yukina was so happy, other than her brother sparing her boyfriend and apparently mate. "I want you to ask Vegeta to go with you."

Kaiya frowned at that. She knew she had to tell Vegeta about everything, but she really didn't want to. She'd rather him be pissed at her when she told him that she was going to be skipping out on training for a few weeks, especially after the previous day's training session. She had a lot of work to do, and she knew Vegeta wasn't pleased with that. Yeah, he would be mad about it, but she'd rather him be mad at her temporarily than Spirit World indefinitely. "I'm not going to do that, Hiei," she told him without room for argument. "If I did, he'd try going to Koenma and then we'd need a new Spirit World ruler."

"That's a bad thing?" Hiei questioned. "Look, I if you don't tell him, I will."

"Hiei," Kaiya early growled. "I never forced you to tell Yukina about who you were." Kuwabara's eyes bugged out when he heard Kaiya admit she knew and kept quiet. "You should not demand I tell Vegeta anything I don't want to tell him. We have a lot of people involved, and now Kuwabara too. We'll be okay, Hiei. I will be fine."

Hiei did not have a counter for her, but instead narrowed his eyes at the human across from them. Kuwabara cringed, pushing himself as far back in his chair as he could, but not removing his eyes that were captured by Hiei's. "If anything happens to either of them, I'll kill you."

Kuwabara laughed nervously and held up his hands. "Don't worry. I'll take care of 'em. We are all family after all."

Hiei nodded and then looked to Kaiya forcefully. Kaiya sighed knowing that Hiei wanted to talk in private. "We'll be right back," she told Kuwabara.

When they were out of earshot, on the outskirts of Genkai's forest, she turned to Hiei and placed her hands on his shoulders. "So what happened after you ordered me to stay in the room?"

"I went to attack him," Hiei stated, plain and simple. "I couldn't."

"What do you mean?" Kaiya asked, though she was happy about Hiei's restraint.

Hiei sighed as he remembered the scene from the previous night.

_He had slammed open the door, katana in hand, but it seemed the two had expected his reaction and were not fazed by it. Kuwabara and Yukina were sitting on a small couch while the human was gently rubbing her stomach smiling like an idiot. He looked over to Hiei who embodied bewilderment. He didn't remember a time he'd seen his sister so happy before, other than when he finally confessed to being her brother._

"_Hey, Hiei," Kuwabara greeted softly. "Hold on, we can talk outside." He turned back to Yukina. "Don't worry; we'll be back soon my sweet."_

_Yukina giggled and rolled her eyes, but kissed Kuwabara on the cheek. "I know," she told him. She smiled over to Hiei and nodded to him to show him her understanding of his reaction._

_Kuwabara got up from the couch and walked over to Hiei who was still looking into the room dumbfounded. Kuwabara paused at the door and whispered, "Come on, this can't be that shocking. Let's go."_

_Hiei was a little taken aback by the forcefulness in Kuwabara's voice, but simply narrowed his eyes and conveyed a message through telepathy. _Whatever, human, but believe me, make one wrong move or comment and you are dead.

_Kuwabara inaudibly chuckled. "Right, Hiei."_

_They went outside of the temple and Kuwabara looked up at the sky stormy sky, thougt the stars were still visible. "Man, it's hard to conceive the idea of all of that having some other race, you know? I wonder how Kaiya's dealing with it."_

"_Point one against you," Hiei growled. "Leave Kaiya out of this."_

_Kuwabara audibly chuckled this time. "Wasn't trying to bring her into it, Hiei. My relationship with Yukina is a completely separate thing. I know that."_

"_Hn," Hiei replied, katana still in hand. As he played with the hilt in his hand, staring at it, he considered what exactly he had to say to this human, his "brother-in-law" as Kaiya would say._

"_I love her, Hiei," Kuwabara started. "I know you don't like it, but I do. I would do anything for her to make her happy, and I would give up my life before I'd let anything happen to her and now to our children. I don't care about whatever laws you two came from. Other than your mother and sister and maybe that woman who raised her and told her about you (and that's a big maybe), the other ice maidens are trash in my mind. No one should ever do what they did to any of you. If they ever turn up again to come after our kids, trust me, they won't get the chance. With Yukina here in Human World, she never has to worry about that stuff ever again, and honestly, neither do you."_

_Hiei didn't say anything, although he did release a sigh of both frustration and reluctant acceptance. "Yukina and Kaiya are the two most important people in my life," he admitted. "You are taking partial responsibility for one of them. If I sense anything wrong, her physical wellbeing or her emotional happiness, there will be nowhere in all three worlds or that crazy universe up there," he nodded his head towards the sky, "that you will be able to hide."_

_As the Jagan glowed underneath his headband, Kuwabara smiled. "That's how it should be, Hiei. Brothers are always supposed to protect their sisters. I'd be acting the same way with whatever guy Shizuru would be dating, and she's older than me."_

_Hiei took this piece of information Kuwabara was giving him and he couldn't help but agree. After all, Vegeta went after him when he found out about Kaiya. He surprised that he too was going through the motions like everyone else._

"Wait, is that why you and Vegeta wanted to train alone that one day?" Kaiya interrupted.

"Yes," Hiei replied curtly. Well, that discussion was over.

"So you're okay with all of this?" Kaiya pressed cautiously. Where she didn't want to provoke Hiei, she did want to make sure he wouldn't be going after Kuwabara anytime soon.

"No," Hiei answered honestly, "but I will accept it, only for Yukina and her kids."

Kaiya nodded and moved her hands down Hiei's arms to his hands. "You're a good brother, Hiei," she said sincerely. "Don't forget that, okay?"

Hiei nodded and then looked back to the porch. "You need to eat," he reminded her. "You're going to need all the energy you can get dealing with this mission."

Kaiya had to agree with him. She still wasn't certain on what to expect. The good news was that this time, unlike her first mission with Spirit World, there was only one city that needed investigating so her team wouldn't be completely separated. If they needed each other, it wouldn't take an hour or two to get there. At least they had that going for them. And she also had her new move which would come in handy. Now she just had to get out of training, and was prepared to be berated for it.

* * *

Jiro was ecstatic after releasing his energy the previous night. It had been a long time since he fought. HFIL definitely didn't allow his to reach his full potential since his spirit energy was locked away, a move of caution on Otherworld's part. He had to laugh about that whole scenario.

Koenma planned on sentencing him to Limbo, but Jiro didn't seem to care about the treatment he'd receive there. He knew that it was hell to be sentenced there, and so he used his carefully planned acting skills to play it off as no more than a minor bee sting compared to what he deserved. Like his daughter, Koenma was responsive to his lies and he was handed over to King Yemma. Seems the Spirit World ruler was not apt in taking over his father's, King Enma's, position. That worked to his advantage.

The Spirit World ruler was still following his father's old laws. That would be terrible for him if he were to die again, but perfect for his life in the living. As long as he was human, his daughter and her friends couldn't touch him. They'd be imprisoned for eternity if they did that, or worse. She would again be left unprotected. His only concern was the two full-blooded Saiyans.

He hated his daughter for befriending demons, but he hated her more for befriending Saiyans. From what he observed, the girl definitely knew about Frieza and his experimentation, meaning she knew of her Saiyan abilities and her ties to the Saiyan prince. That would be the biggest challenge to overcome. You would think he'd be more concerned over the Saiyan who defeated Frieza, but he knew from the grapevine that Kakarot, or Goku or whatever he called himself, was kindhearted. Like his daughter, he would not kill unless he absolutely had to. Vegeta was different. The prince would kill him without a second thought and wash the blood from his hands erasing the memory of him out of existence.

Jiro frowned when he thought about the murderous look the Saiyan prince graced him with. It was almost as if he was saying, "Enjoy life now, because I'm coming for you." He didn't know much about him except that he was one of Frieza's top soldiers until his rebellious side shone through. After that, Frieza began sending the Saiyans one either missions where they would easily succeed, so that they would not increase their strength as much, or missions they wouldn't be able to complete on time, to force them to receive punishments. Now that the prince was free and Frieza was gone, Jiro had no protection from him.

Still, after his powerful display the previous night, he was not concern. Electricity seemed to have a negative effect on Saiyans, a reason Kaiya was killed so easily. He'd need to catch the prince off-guard as he had with Kaiya. Jiro was not an idiot to believe that Vegeta would just let him attack.

"Master." Jake entered the room Jiro was residing in, breaking him from his thoughts.

"What?" he said with a slight snap in his voice. "Did you get what I asked?"

"Yes sir," Jake said as he gently placed a broken mirror on the nightstand. "The Forlorn Hope, as you requested. Still, this broken mirror can't possibly serve you in any way. Why use it, if I may ask?"

"Yes, you may," Jiro stated sincerely. "You have earned my trust, Jake. You did well in my absence, and even found the way to bring me back. I meant what I said yesterday. You shall be rewarded greatly."

"Thank you, master," Jake replied with a small bow though Jiro was not facing him. "So what is the plan?"

"There are few things I want to have happen from all of this," Jiro started. "One is that I want my daughter to pay with her life, but now I think I want to further that. I want that brat to lose everything she holds dear, including the one world she still has no clue about."

"Which is?" Jake asked, now confused since the girl was a part of two words she knew little about.

"I'm talking about Demon World," Jiro elaborated. "My purpose in going there, and do NOT speak of this to Mizuki, is simple. Once our team has strengthened, they should be holding their big tournament. I want to kill all of the favorites to win, including the current pacifist that balanced the three worlds. It would send their world into complete chaos, and even better, Kaiya would lose her friends and lover in the process."

"But then the demons would be free to enter our world since the barrier is down," Jake pointed out his only doubt. "What then?"

"That is what the forlorn hope is for," Jiro explained. "When the time comes, if it comes, and we cannot defend ourselves from the demons, we will simply wish them away with the mirror. Despite its broken appearance, it still works. Why else would Spirit World continue to protect such a useless relic? If we need to, we will have one of the lower ranked soldier make the wish that all demons be eliminated from this world. The mirror will exchange his life for our wish to come true and then we will have succeeded in purging the world of all demons."

Jake smirked at his master's plan. It sounded completely thought out and flawless. Mizuki, from the outside of the room had also heard and shook her head. It wasn't flawless to her, but cowardly. It would just be erasing the problem. Not all demons were bad, and even Jiro knew that. What he was doing was completely unethical. Still, Mizuki was concerned for her siblings, and there was nothing she could do against his electrical abilities. Her only hope was that the spirit detectives would stop him.

* * *

"I don't believe I heard you correctly," Vegeta said in a forced calm. He couldn't believe that after one day of serious training, his sister was asking to skip out on it for the next three weeks. Depending on how she answered would determine how he was going to deal with her.

Kaiya was doing her best to guard her thoughts from Vegeta. She didn't want him flipping out at Spirit World, so she knew she'd be taking the brunt of his anger. After hearing his voice, she knew she'd have to choose her words carefully. "It's not like I want to skip out on training," Kaiya started, "but the girls and I have something we have to take care of. I'll work on the thing we did yesterday and then work on perfecting the moves I have already. When I get back you could put me through training three weeks straight if you want, but this is something I NEEDto do."

Kaiya didn't know what hit her when she went flying into a tree and caught herself. She stared at Vegeta, shocked that he attacked her like that. He saw the hurt reflected on her face but paid it no mind as he marched over to her.

"If you couldn't block that," he growled, staring at her like a predator stares at pray, "then you have no business doing whatever the hell you thing you _'need'_ to do!" He punched the tree next to the girl holding back in his strength as not to break it. "There is a madman after you that wants to kill you!" he reminded her angrily. "Your training has NOT prepared you for ANYTHING! Wherever you go, you will be in constant danger and you are completely disregarding it!"

"Well actually-"

"NO!" Vegeta shouted. "You are listening to what I am saying! I don't want to hear your excuses! What is so damn important that you would risk your life?"

"Yours is!" Kaiya yelled out, tears starting to fall. "Vegeta, I don't want to tell you, okay? Just this once, let me do what I have to do! I don't want to skip out on training and if I had it my way, I wouldn't be! I don't want to die again, and I don't want Jiro to hurt anyone, but I also don't want anybody hurt because they go after Jiro!"

Kaiya pushed past Vegeta and ran into the compound as Bulma was coming outside to alert Vegeta to his fixed training bots. She stared blankly at the Saiyan after she watched Kaiya ascend the stairs in tears. Both of them could hear her sobs before the sound of a door slamming, and then after that, Vegeta could only pick up on muffled sounds through her window.

"What did I just walk in on?" Bulma questioned. Vegeta just grunted and stormed off to the GR.

He was still angry with Kaiya for asking to stop training, especially for how long she was asking. Her words were not lost on him, but Kaiya still had a responsibility to herself to perfect her abilities and defense or her life would be ended a second time. Now, the telepathy was affecting him yet again as he heard thoughts of how upset she was that he had hit her. The Saiyan was not sorry for it. She needed some sense knocked into her after what he had seen these past two days. She was living in her own little dream world it seemed, which made sense considering how she could change from sad, angered, or irritated to completely happy. The one thought that did concern him though was that she was now slightly scared of him like she was of Jiro. Vegeta stopped training when he heard that. There was no possible way she could even compare the two of them. He wasn't planning on killing her, ever.

* * *

When Hiei got home, he found Kaiya curled into a ball on their bed, crying her eyes out, and he didn't know why. He tried to get into her mind, but she was already fighting to block her thoughts and he not want to startle her by breaking her forced barrier. Instead he placed her hand on her back. Kaiya gasped and then looked up to see Hiei. The tears started again, as she had hoped to see Vegeta to talk. Unfortunately for her, in her mind, he didn't want to deal with her. She had disappointed him, something she never wanted to do.

"Hiei," she spoke hoarsely, "I think I'm going to call the girls so we can leave tonight. I need to get away from here for a while."

"What happened in the last two hours to upset you like this?" Hiei asked in concern. Kaiya cried a lot of the time, but only a few tears or small sobs. She hadn't been like this for a very long time, since she had told him about her past with Jiro in fact, and he hated it even worse since it spoke volumes to the pain she was actually in.

"Nothing," she lied as her voice cracked. "Let it go. I just need to leave. You can tell Bulma tomorrow, but I can't stay here another minute…not now."

Hiei shook his head. He was completely confused as to what was going on with Kaiya. Sighing, he asked, "How long are you anticipating being gone?"

"Three weeks," she told him, and then added, "maybe longer depending on how I feel after the mission."

"Kaiya," Hiei growled, "what the hell happened? Who upset you? Did you see Jiro? Did Koenma put you up to something else? WHAT?"

"Leave me alone!" Kaiya shouted, burying herself in her pillow. "Just let me deal. I'll call you when we get to Greece, okay? Stay with Kurama so you have phone access."

"I will get you to tell me what happened eventually, Kaiya," he stated, "but for now, for you, I will let it go. As for after the mission, if you are to stay gone any longer, I want you to call me and I will go wherever you need me to. I'd rather limit how long you're alone."

Kaiya nodded in acceptance of Hiei's condition. She knew he was only looking out for her, especially because he didn't want to lose her again. "I need to pack quickly," she told him as she started to calm down and wipe the tears away. Hiei looked at her intensely, and she stepped back slightly. "What?"

Hiei moved his hands to take his hiruiseki stone from around his neck. Kaiya had no idea what he was doing before he placed it over hers. She could feel the demon energy radiating off of it, but could also feel the gem's calming effect.

"I just want you to take it with you," he told her. "If you run into any demons on whatever this mission is, they'll know you are taken."

Kaiya smiled and nodded, wiping away the last of her tears. "Thanks, Hiei," she whispered.

"Hn," came his usual, simple reply. "I'm going to go shower. I'll tell Bulma tonight at dinner that you will be dealing with this mission for a while." Hiei grabbed some clothes and left the room so that Kaiya could start packing. She went for the essentials, including the katana that Hiei started to teach her to use. She would work with that as well while she was away. She needed to learn anything that could give her an edge against Jiro in the future. She'd definitely need it during the mission against the unknown demon hunter she'd be going up against. She hoped that one day Koenma would stop pulling this kind of stuff with her and her friends. She couldn't stand it anymore.


	14. Chapter 13 Unwanted Mission Day 1

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, DBZ, or the characters…just my many, MANY OCs (too many to list really XD) Also, thanks to previous writings, the OCs had never been described, so I get to do that now :3 lol

* * *

Kaiya and her friends were able to get their luggage easily. She had been thankful for a peaceful flight and airport experience. Usually there was more confusion with international flights. It seemed like someone in the universe was trying to give her a break. After everything that happened over the last few days, she needed it.

"Kaiya, are you alright?" Yukina asked in concern. Kaiya had not been acting like herself, and she wasn't the only one who had noticed. Both Mayonaka and Alexia had tried to engage her in conversation during the flight. Kaiya just waved them off and listened to her iPod the entire time. Likewise, Botan was chattering now and noticed that Kaiya was not chirping along with her. She only hoped that the girl did not have to deal with another of Koenma's challenging games. Kuwabara and Shizuru watched her closely. They could also tell that something was up with the girl.

"I'm fine, Yukina," Kaiya lied. She had really tried to be fine. Her mind tried to rationalize her the entire night before the trip. She had gotten in touch with Koenma with a communication mirror and asked him to book a flight for the seven of them to Athens. Mayonaka said that Kiense and Marissa would meet them at the airport and then the nine of them would take a boat ride to the island they needed to get to, Crete. There, Toshi, Suze, and the twins they had met before would be waiting at a large rented house that Kaiya convinced Koenma to rent for the three weeks. It was the least he could do for forcing them into this hell.

"Are you sure?" Botan pressed. "You've seemed off since last night. Actually, I was surprised you wanted to leave so quickly. You just told us about the mission a couple days ago."

Kaiya cringed and clung onto her bag, hanging from her left shoulder. Her katana swung slightly from her other shoulder as she grabbed onto the handle of her rolling suitcase. Shizuru and Kuwabara could sense that the girl was hurting and didn't want to talk about it. "If the kid says she's fine, we have no business arguing," Shizuru stated. "Now let's get out of this airport. I need a smoke."

"I didn't know you got nerves from flying," Mayonaka spoke up. "You didn't seem nervous on the plane."

"It's not nerves," Shizuru replied, "but if I don't do something to calm the rage I'm feeling due to this farce of a mission than Koenma will have to deal with me coming after him next."

Nervous chuckles could be heard among the group, except with Kaiya who was still clutching her belongings. She was still so hurt about Vegeta hitting her. The Saiyan princess kept telling herself that it was nothing, that it would happen again, but what if she angered her brother once more in the future. Would he hurt her again? Would he forgive her even now for disappointing him? Her doubts continued to take over anytime she tried to explain away Vegeta's treatment of her the previous evening.

"Kaiya, did you hear me?" Mayonaka asked her. Kaiya snapped out of her thoughts, blinking and trying to regain herself before looking at her irritated sister. Mayonaka sighed and said, "I'll take that as a 'no.' Listen for once, will you?" Mayonaka didn't notice her sister cringe at her tone of voice. "Kiense said that he'd be waiting for us at this great restaurant a few blocks away. He has a capsule car for us to put our luggage in while we eat and then we'll head to the boat…are you sure you're okay, sis? You look distant."

Kaiya shook her head to try to regain herself. Her thoughts and fears were all over the place. She managed to keep her mental block up, but honestly, if one of their new enemies had telepathic abilities, she'd be screwed. Also, if she couldn't focus on the mission at hand, she'd be screwed too. "I'm really fine," she lied again.

"Well, alright then," Mayonaka responded in shock. She couldn't believe the way her sister was acting. Never, and that means NEVER, had she ever seen her sister acting this way. It scared her, honestly. Kaiya would need to be in perfect control this entire mission or it would be like her first all over again. They didn't know the enemy well enough, and if the enemy caught on to her behavior, it would be terrible.

Alexia, too, didn't buy it, and being trained with Kaiya, she knew. Kaiya was dealing with something, and it was something big. She remembered times where Kaiya would act like this, and the young fighter would make more mistakes than she'd be able to make against a true opponent. Where the two of them were trained to be rivals, Alexia had never truly wanted to kill Kaiya. When she found out that she was her cousin, somehow, she felt the protectiveness inside her grow. The two of them were the same age, but Alexia was more hardened than Kaiya, and had more experience with true spy cases. She did not want her cousin to go into this hurting.

As they began to leave the airport, Alexia placed her hand on Kaiya's shoulder, making the girl freeze in place. "Listen Kaiya," she chided gently, "I know you're going through something. Everyone can tell. If they can, our enemies will as well. I'm not telling you to get over it. We both know it doesn't work like that, but you need to bottle it for now. Bottle it and save it for when this mission is done, or else, Kaiya…you're going to get yourself killed again. No one will be able to handle that, especially that brother of yours that just found out you were his sister."

When Kaiya flinched, Alexia knew she hit a nerve. Whatever was bothering Kaiya had to do with Vegeta, but the dark-haired girl could not figure out what. Then Kaiya said sadly, "Vegeta would be fine without me. He doesn't need a disappointment in his life. Let's just get this mission over with."

Alexia's teal eyes followed Kaiya as she walked out the automatic doors. She didn't think Vegeta cared about her? That was a surprising sentiment to say the least. If there was anything Kaiya would have said in that moment, Alexia would have never seen that coming. All she had seen or heard about the Saiyan prince from her cousin was good, but now? What happened in less than a day that had her cousin so upset, and would she be able to get ahold of her already spiraling emotions before they had to do recon? Alexia shook her head from her thoughts. She couldn't let herself get out of sorts too, especially when so much was riding on this single mission. If Kaiya was going to choose now to breakdown, Alexia would take the lead.

* * *

Hiei had not run into Bulma the night before to tell her about Kaiya leaving for the mission. He had found food in the fridge and a note on the table explaining that she needed to take care of something at the company the previous night while her father and mother were on a trip. He wasn't fazed by the note as it had nothing to do with him. All it meant was that explaining Kaiya's absence would be prolonged. He could live with that.

Vegeta walked into the kitchen in the morning and saw Hiei standing in there, leaning against the counter with his foot pressed into it and his arms crossed. He was wearing a color other than black for a change, a pair of black pants but also a light blue tank top. He was tapping his fingers impatiently when Bulma entered the kitchen and found the two men just staring around.

"Oh, good morning guys," she greeted. "Hey, Hiei, where's Kaiya?"

Upon hearing his sister's name, the Saiyan's expression darkened. He wondered if Kaiya was going to try to avoid him for the day of if she would come to train at some point. He made his view on her training perfectly clear. Besides, it sounded like she still had a few days before she went wherever the hell she was going. When Hiei spoke, his theory was proven false.

"She's not here," Hiei explained in irritation. "She's on a mission for Spirit World. That idiotic ruler, Koenma, decided that in order to change the law that says we all go to Spirit World prison, including anyone Saiyan, she was to complete a blind mission with a team she formed. I'm not happy about it, but at least she was smart enough to bring a lot of capable spies and those with spiritual awareness to help her out. She was adamant about leaving last night."

"I wonder why she wanted to leave so abruptly," Bulma voiced. She didn't notice Vegeta glaring at her. He hoped she'd shut up and not reveal to Hiei what happened. He had enough to deal with and did not need his sister's boyfriend to bitch at him. "Maybe it was that argument she had with Vegeta."

"What?" Hiei asked softly but shocked as Vegeta's glare hardened. The fire demon swiftly turned to glare at Vegeta. The prince was shocked to see such hate in Hiei's eyes. "Are you insane? Do you know what the hell you did?"

"What are you whining about?" Vegeta growled. Bulma sensed an argument about to start and backed away from the two warriors praying that the kitchen wouldn't be destroyed by whatever was about to go down.

"Do you know that last time I saw Kaiya THAT torn up?" Hiei asked in anger. "It was when Jiro told her she was a traitor. That night, before she was killed, when she wanted to be alone. Before he showed up, she was telling me everything he had done or said to her in life and she was hysterical, and it took a long time to calm her down, and then even after that, she got killed because she was too hurt to come back inside with me. He did that!" Hiei didn't realize he had started walking towards Vegeta and stopping himself at the kitchen table by clenching onto the marble covering. "Last night…last night I couldn't even believe what I saw. She was hysterical, and seeing me only made it worse. All she kept saying was she needed to get away from here NOW! Do you want to know what she said afterwards?" Hiei paused but Vegeta didn't get a chance to answer before Hiei's heated fists cracked the marble in the table and he screamed at him in rage.

"She said she didn't want to come back after the mission!" he exclaimed causing Bulma to gasp and Vegeta's glare to soften as shock invaded him. "I got her to agree to tell me where she wanted to go and I'd be there, but she said she might stay away after the three weeks, all because you got into an argument with her? What the hell were you fighting about? What was so damn important to fight over that you nearly destroyed her?"

Vegeta did not like being yelled at by this demon. He didn't care if he did kind of deserved it. No one was going to speak to the Prince of all Saiyans that way. "It's none of your business," he replied curtly.

"Don't," Hiei spoke darkly, breaking off a part of the table. "Don't you dare try to say it's none of my business. That girl you hurt and chased away is someone I care about greatly, and I swear, if you did something to her that gets her hurt, I don't care how much more powerful you are than me. I will send you to hell even if I have to send myself there first. No one hurts ANYTHING I care about!"

Vegeta was taken aback, but he realized he should have expected Hiei to act this way. Hiei had shown how much he cared about Kaiya in that fight they had had, as well as from his monologue after. The Saiyan figured Hiei's complaining was done, but he would have been wrong.

"TELL ME!" Hiei demanded, banging on the table with his fist. "I demand to know what you did or said to her that sent her off in the manner she left in."

"She was asking to skip out on her training after only a day of REAL training," Vegeta said loudly and forcefully. "I hit her with a small ki blast and scolded her for being so reckless with her own life. She needs to train and not go gallivanting with her friends on a whim. She refused to tell me about the damn mission when I asked, so how was I to know what she was doing?"

Hiei shook his head. "Are you telling me," he said deathly calm, "that you actually hit her when she said she needed to pass up on something as small as TRAINING?" Hiei couldn't even look at Vegeta. Even Bulma was avoiding looking at the Saiyan in that moment. "Let's get one thing straight, Vegeta. I don't care who the fuck raised you. I don't care that the same creep that turned her into your sister raised you and forced you to purge planets. Hell, I was raised by killers myself, but there is one thing you've seemed to have forgotten.

"Kaiya is an EARTHLING, and she HUMAN! Those two things give her strong emotional ties to anyone she deems family or friend, even if that person is a homicidal maniac that KILLED her. And then you go and hit her for something she does not grasp the importance of because she was raised that way…Do you know how much emotional scarring you just caused for her? The one man in her family she trusted to protect her and love her when her bastard of a father abandoned her…"

Hiei shook his head again and turned to face Bulma. "I can't stay here for a while either, or I may destroy more than your easily breakable table. I need to go to stay with Kurama to have phone access in case Kaiya calls. I'll be leaving right away. I can't stand here another second."

Hiei flashed out of the kitchen faster than lightning. Bulma and Vegeta were left alone in there, in this heavy silence that Hiei's rant caused. Eventually, the human looked over to Vegeta who was staring at the partially broken kitchen table.

"Vegeta," Bulma tried to say calmly. Her voice cracked, causing Vegeta to flinch. "She didn't deserve that. I know training is important to Saiyans, but on Earth, we don't abuse our hurting relatives because they ask for a break." Bulma laughed bitterly before continuing. "I hope you're proud of yourself. If that girl decides not to come back, it's on you."

She left Vegeta alone in the kitchen with nothing but his thoughts. The prince had not done anything wrong, he continued to tell himself, but then their words, Hiei's and Bulma's, that Earth had different customs…

He thought about what Hiei had said and then reflected on Kaiya's thoughts and fears from the night before. He had hurt her, from how Hiei made it sound almost beyond repair. Vegeta had crossed a line with Kaiya and he knew it. Still, he had his pride. Where he could admit he wronged her to himself, he would not say it to anyone else. So what if they thought him callous and cruel. They all had to stop living in this Earthly delusion that Kaiya was not at risk being out without the proper training. Maybe when something would happen to the girl, they'd see that, but Vegeta didn't know if he could live with himself if something truly did happen to her. The healthy thing to do at this point would have been to talk about it with someone who could understand his thinking. Vegeta was not one to do the healthy thing. Instead he planned to do what he did best. He was going to train the day away in the GR without any distractions. Maybe then, he would get rid of this annoying guilt feeling he rarely felt and hated so much.

* * *

"Kiense!" Mayonaka exclaimed before jumping into the arms of a young man with dark brown hair and green eyes.

"Maya," he greeted lovingly. "It's been forever. Remind me that I need to move back to Japan when this is all said and done. I've been lonely without you."

"He really has," a tall girl with straightened, long, black hair said. Her lavender eyes looked among the team. "I see a lot of new faces. The only three I know are Maya, Kaiya, and Kuwabara."

"We'll do introductions inside, Marissa," Mayonaka said as they loaded their luggage into the capsule car. Kaiya was the last to put her luggage in and lingered in the trunk for a moment longer than she should have.

"Maya, babe," Kiensa whispered tightening his arms around her, "is your sister okay? She's not still upset with what my alternate form did to her, is she?"

"I have no idea, honestly, Kien," Mayonaka replied. "She seemed fine when I offered to contact you. We just talked about it two days ago and she was fine with it. Now she's out of it and seems really depressed and last night she wanted us to drop everything to leave and come here. I have no idea what caused her to act this way, but whatever it is, it's bad. She needs to focus or she'll be-"

"Don't say it," Kiense ordered. "I will make sure she's safe. I owe it to that fire demon boyfriend of hers. I owe him for what my counterpart put them through. I will make sure my debt is paid and that I keep you sister in the living."

"Thanks Kien," Mayonaka said quietly as she lightly kissed his lips. "I trust you completely."

* * *

Mizuki couldn't sleep at all the previous night. She continued to have violent dreams about Demon World and that broken mirror that Jiro ordered Jake to acquire. All she saw in her dreams was blood and corpses of the demons. It was not a pretty sight to behold when you were just trying to get by the anniversary of your parents' deaths.

She needed to stop worrying about Jiro and his schemes for the day. Instead she had a brother and sister to look after. Today was her day off sine nothing was going on with their little group anyway. Tristen and Kala would be up soon and she needed to do everything to distract them from the date. She loved those kids and she didn't like them mourning every year. Their parents wouldn't want this for them on this day for the rest of their lives.

"Morning Mimi!" Kala said as she ran into the kitchen. Tristen, her twin brother, followed her in. He had a smile on his face, though Mizuki could tell the boy was trying to mask his pain. Despite being young when the attack happened, he recalled a lot of it, and made a point never to mention around his sister why their older sister was raising them.

"Good morning, you two," Mizuki greeted, still trying to block out her dreams. "I made you guys pancakes, and then we're going to hit the amusement park. What do you say?"

Tristen shrugged and nodded to her, smiling slightly, while Kala cheered excitedly. "Oh, and by the way you two," Mizuki spoke up again, "Happy Birthday."

* * *

"Missing…what do you mean it's missing?" Koenma screamed when his ogres reported the disappearance of the Forlorn Hope.

"Well, sir," an ogre reported, "we were going to go clean the relics in the vault and found one of the three artifacts missing. The alarm hadn't been tripped up. It was just gone."

Koenma sighed and shook his head. He only knew of two demons alive that had broken into the vault before to steal those artifacts. Unfortunately, he knew they would be less than thrilled being brought in for questioning. "I hate to do this, but bring in Hiei and Kurama, and heck, bring in Kuronue too. I need to ask them a few questions."

* * *

"I'm going to kill him," Hiei stated plainly as he arrived as Kurama's house. "I'm just going to kill him whether he's the king of Spirit World or not."

"Hiei, be calm," Kurama ordered. "If you didn't take it, you have nothing to fear. He's only doing this because we stole them before."

"And he's bringing me along for the ride because why?" Kuronue asked. "I was thought to be dead then."

"Because we had three of us then, and you are, like us, a former thief," Kurama explained. "He just needs to cover his bases."

"Use the damn footage they have of everything in that place before making assumptions," Hiei snapped. "I do NOT want to deal with him right now."

"Hiei, what's wrong?" Kurama questioned. "You've been acting more irritable than usual. Is everything okay with the girls?"

"No."

Kurama and Kuronue exchanged curious looks, but Hiei did not try to diffuse their curiosity. Already at Koenma's office, Hiei entered leaving his friends both concerned and confused. Something had happened and the only ones Hiei dared to open up to were in Greece on a mission that the deity they were about to see forced them to take. This meeting was not going to go well.

"Ah, Hiei," Koenma greeted confidently. He sifted through his paperwork, approving the requests he was presented with, marking them with his royal seal. He wasn't looking at Hiei when the fire demon made his way around the large desk and wrapped his bandaged hand around Koenma's small throat.

"Hiei!" Kurama shouted in shock. He and Kuronue quickly ran into the room, but Hiei held his other hand up. They knew the fire demon was planning to attack them if they took another step. Watching was all they could do as a dark flame surrounded Hiei's fist waiting to be lost.

"I will say this once," Hiei spat, his voice laced in venom. "You've made too many bad calls. You've sent Kaiya on some mission you don't even know if she could complete. Then you drag us here, away from training, to accuse us of stealing objects. Yes, we may have stolen them before, but do you honestly think we'd be stupid enough to try again while Kaiya is fighting for us. Check your damn video cameras. Then question us."

Hiei released Koenma, and the deity placed his hand on his neck. He didn't need to gasp much for air as Hiei hadn't squeezed that hard. It was the fire demon's warning telling Koenma he was already on thin ice. He would have told the demon that it was treason, but he did make a good point. Maybe before he would interrogate them, he should watch the vault security footage.

"Ogre, bring me the vault tape from last night!" he called from his office. Seconds later his usual ogre shadow entered with the tape.

"Here it is, sir," he said handing it over.

Koenma moved to play the tape, and when the fuzz on the video cleared, they saw the untouched vault. Ogres had made their rounds and left the vault unguarded as they exchanged shifts. While they had their backs turned, someone in darkened clothes easily breaking into the vault. Before the ogres came back, the being was already in the vault and removed his mask.

"I repeat," Hiei growled at the Spirit World ruler, "I'm going to kill you, especially if anything happens to either Yukina or Kaiya." His eyes flared with hatred as he faced the deity. "You let Jake escape, and he found a way back in. You better find a way to fix this before Jiro even thinks about using that mirror."

Hiei disappeared from the room and Koenma cringed under the accusing glares of the fox and bat demon. Kuronue shook his head as Kurama's hardened green eyes flashed gold. Koenma knew that he caused a lot of problems for them in the past, but now with everything going on, he couldn't afford to lose them.

"I'll get to work on this right away," he said sincerely. "Just make sure he doesn't destroy anything."

"Fine," Kurama replied in a deep and dark voice. Kuronue slightly smirked at the sound of Youko Kurama's voice. "But I agree with him. If any harm comes to any of them, we will be coming for you."

Kurama turned away from the Reikai ruler and Kuronue followed as they made it to a portal to return them home. They hoped that they'd find Hiei in Kurama's room ready to contact Kaiya instead of burning buildings in the city. They were thankful to find him right where they hoped.

* * *

Kaiya was in a room of the large house that had been rented on the island of Crete. She had already seen the rest of Kiense's team. Toshi was as comical as she remembered him after their whole first meeting. The black-haired teenager had certainly grown sturdier since she had met him. Suze was as bright as she always was with her short, golden hair and blue eyes, her refreshing attitude matching that brightness. Kiri and Akio, the twins, looked a lot different than what she remembered of them. The pigments of their purple hair and blue eyes became lighter on Kiri and darker on Akio, matching their attitudes. When Kaiya had asked Mayonaka about it, she said something along the lines that since they were aging and were the two halves of the same power, one held the darker aspects of their power, and the other the lighter.

Everyone was so excited to be together again and to meet the other members of this thrown together team that Kiense's team hadn't met back during that first mission. Kaiya slipped away to unpack in her room, but really she needed to avoid the scrutinizing eyes of her friends and relatives. She was trying and struggling to get ahold of herself, and she was failing miserably. How was she going to get through this mission?

As she unpacked her belongings, she noticed her cell plop down onto the bed and realized that she had yet to call Hiei like she promised she would. She knew she'd better do that before she worried him too much. She quickly grabbed the device, turning it on, so she could call Hiei.

The second she dialed… _"Kaiya!" _Hiei exclaimed into the phone as if he had been waiting by it. _"Where the hell are you?"_

Kaiya inaudibly chuckled, a ghost of a smile appearing on her face. "Hey yourself, Hiei," she teased lightly. She already felt a little better hearing his voice.

"_What took so long?" _Hiei snapped before Kaiya heard Kuronue yell in the background, _"Yeah, Kaiya…if you didn't call him any sooner, Kurama's room'd be toasted."_

"Sorry," Kaiya muttered with humor in her voice. "We just got to the rental house. We met up with Kiense and Marrisa at a restaurant close to the airport, and I wasn't thinking. I forgot to turn on my phone."

"_I know, Kaiya," _Hiei said in a surprisingly soft voice.

Kaiya was a little shocked by his change of attitude. "Hiei, you okay?"

"_Kaiya,_" he tried again, _I _know."

* * *

"_W-What?" _he heard her stutter on the other line. Kurama and Kuronue were staring at him questioningly, but he refused to meet their gazes as he spoke into the phone.

"Yeah," he replied. "When I told Bulma you left, she mentioned a fight with Vegeta, and I know what happened."

"_I'm sorry I didn't tell you," _Kaiya voice said, starting to get upset. He sighed, hoping she wouldn't cry again, but he needed to bring it up so he could explain to her, yet again, she wasn't at fault.

"You didn't deserve it," he assured her. "I know that you need to train, but that was certainly not an effective way to remind you. But it's going to be fine, Kaiya. You're going to be okay, and he's going to get over it."

"_What if he doesn't?"_ she asked sadly. _"What if I'm just another disappointment to him?"_

"I can't speak for Vegeta," Hiei admitted, "but you are NOT a disappointment. You're letting Jiro's words get to you again and applying them to now. You can't do that. You need to focus and put this aside for now. We can figure things out when you get back."

He heard Kaiya laugh and felt hopeful. _"You sound just like Alexia, you know," _she replied. A short sigh could be heard on her end. _"I know I have to focus, especially since everyone can tell something is bothering me."_

Hiei didn't like hearing that. If everyone could tell she was upset, that would be horrible for her when facing the enemy. "Don't think about it for now," Hiei ordered. "Just forget it and get some rest, okay?"

"_Okay," _Kaiya agreed, much to his relief.

"Good," he responded. "I love you, onna."

"_Love you too, koi."_

Hiei closed the cell phone and sighed in frustration, trying to reign in his frustration in all of this. After cooling down, he realized that Vegeta probably thought he was doing right by his girlfriend in some way. Kaiya was just not used to such treatment, and one punishment to her turned into being a disappointment and hated. Where she was getting her fire back in dealing with Jiro, his words still affected her and probably would continue until either the human was dead or even once she talked to Vegeta.

Kurama cleared his throat, calling the fire demon's attention to him. Hiei gave the fox demon a death glare, questioning the scrutiny. "I'm surprised how cool headed you were and that you expressed sentiment with us in the room," he said sincerely. "Usually you avoid public admittance."

"She needed to hear it," Hiei replied simply with a shrug. "Tell the detective and you're dead. That goes for you too, bat."

Both Kurama and Kuronue chuckled, knowing the threat was halfhearted. The red-head stood up and took a few sheets from his closet. "Well, I guess we have to set up the couch bed in the living room for you, Hiei, since Kuronue has the guest room."

"No," Hiei replied. "I think I'm going to turn to my old sleep arrangements."

"Which is?" Kuronue questioned.

Hiei flashed him another halfhearted glare before Kurama sighed. The fire demon opened the window and disappeared outside. When the two demons looked out the window, he was already lazing back with his eyes closed using a tree branch for his bed. "Interesting arrangement," Kuronue said to Kurama.

"Indeed," the fox replied.

* * *

Vegeta entered the compound around three in the morning and made his way to the kitchen. He fed himself quickly, knowing that there was more food since Kaiya was not there to feed on her share. When he thought of his sister, the food began to leave a bitter taste in his mouth and he decided to be done with the food.

He found Bulma, asleep on the couch with her hair all over the place. The light from the TV reflected off of her. She didn't continuously haunt him that day, which led Vegeta to believe that she was still angry with him. The Saiyan didn't care, though. He had more important things to be worried about than a weak human being angry with him. He had to worry about his sister staying angry with him.

If he could take his attack back, he knew he wouldn't. As he said earlier, the girl was too reckless with her own life. He didn't care what caused it. If it was her naivety, she needed to grow up. If it was her fears, she needed to move past them. If it was like Hiei said and the girl was simply afraid to go against how she was raised, they would need to work on it together. But she needed a wakeup call and she needed it now. If he could easily attack while he was trying not to harm her, her enemies would do much, much worse.

Still, he did wish she would have told him about the mission. He would have been a little more lenient on her, maybe, but instead she made it sound like she was going on some random three week trip out of nowhere. Vegeta didn't understand what he purpose was in keeping the truth from him.

He considered poking through her thoughts, but since he was unsuccessful earlier in the day do to her forced mental block, he couldn't. Part of him wish he knew how to do that so that his thoughts would not be an open book to his sister. This connection was a hassle to deal with. Still, it couldn't hurt to try again.

This time it worked. Her mental block was down. Vegeta assumed it was due to her being asleep, but the thoughts that cycled through her head told him she was awake but that the mental strain of keeping her mind blocked was too taxing. He tried mentally nudging her mind, but he had no idea what he was doing. Kaiya had to have sensed him there by now. She was ignoring him, which angered him greatly. Then something happened that explained her behavior. He could hear the conversation around her.

"_She looks catatonic right now," _a male voice said.

"_Yeah, that's my cousin," _he heard a female reply. It sounded like that Alexia girl he had met.

"_So what happens if she stays like this?"_

"_Eh, don't worry; she'll fall asleep soon. She's just lost in thought. It's happened before."_

"_Why isn't that making me feel any better?"_

Alexia sighed. _"Kiense, I'm going to tell you this and you better not say anything to the others. It's kind of an invasion of Kaiya's privacy, and mine to be honest, but it's something to do with our past…those classes."_

Vegeta's expression darkened when he thought about the "classes" his sister had been forced to take on Frieza's orders. He was surprised his sister was not responsive at all to the words being spoken around her. Her cousin and this Kiense guy were discussing it right in front of her, and she wasn't doing or saying anything.

"_I swear I won't tell, Lexi. Not even Maya. What's wrong with Kaiya?"_

"_Okay," _Alexia breathed. _"Our friends know that we were trained to fight each other. Really, it's deeper than that. Two people were assigned as training partners or whatever, but eventually, they'd have to fight it out and the strongest of the pair would have to defeat and kill the other. We didn't know we were cousins back then, so it was easy for me to stay detached from her, but she refused to disregard me so easily._

"_We got ourselves into a lot of trouble, her more than me. One time, I did something I really shouldn't have done, and she took the fall for it. That was before she disappeared. I would bet my life on saying that her punishment was becoming Frieza's experiment. I mean, how else do you explain it?"_

"_I still don't get the whole thing," _Kiense told her. _"Maya tried to tell me, but I didn't get it."_

"_Kaiya's memories were blocked, but when she came back, she was a whole different person. Something happened to her. Sure, she was still softhearted, but she was more closed off. There were times where before we had a case, she's zone out just like this. Eventually, we as training partners became spy partners as well. I got to know her better than anyone else there. I knew when he mind was going somewhere before we prepped for the mission."_

"_Do you think it was her trying to remember?" _Kiense asked. Vegeta glared questioningly at the question being asked.

"_No," _Alexia admitted. _"If she were simply trying to remember her time with Frieza…she already has the memories back now. That's not it. I know that sometimes battles replay themselves in her head, but then she'd be fighting or a little more responsive. I think something else happened to her that her body remembers, and these spy missions just remind her of it. That's why this mission made me so hesitant. And that's a completely separate issue from what was bugging her today."_

"_Yeah, I know," _Kiense nearly exclaimed. _"Alexia, what was going on today? She was acting completely introverted and distant. I've never seen her like that, not even the day I was brought back from that other dimension. What happened?"_

"_I don't know," _Alexia replied. _"But I do know this. Something happened between her and her brother. I mentioned him and she completely shut down. Then she said he didn't need another disappointment in his life and walked away. I have no idea what happened last night, but whatever it was, I told her she needs to bottle it so we can make it through this mission with our lives intact."_

Kaiya seemed to rouse after that and Vegeta could sense her confusion having been, as Alexia said, catatonic throughout that whole conversation. Immediately the barrier went back up now that she had control of herself. Vegeta didn't even realize that his mouth was agape and he was clutching to the top of the sofa. His sister thought she was a disappointment to him? That he didn't need her? Obviously that wasn't true or else he would have never come back to the planet. The hit was a warning, as well as a minor punishment for her recklessness, but he wasn't disappointed in her. He was just as reckless at times, although he could afford to be.

He realized that Hiei was right as far as the way Kaiya was raised and how she thought. Vegeta never looked at it from the perspective before. All he saw when he looked at her was another Saiyan, his sister, and he treated her as a fellow Saiyan and not just some science experiment. But there were times, he was noticing, that he had to treat her like an Earthling as well. He didn't like it, more so because he despised the majority of the Earthlings already. He only tolerated Kaiya's friends, and even tolerated Bulma and her family. The only Earthling he cared about fully was Kaiya. Everything else was out of some sort of obligation he felt because of her. It was proving to be troublesome for the Saiyan prince.

* * *

A/N: I feel like putting an A/N in here since I'm bringing back all my OCs from the previous stories. This is a reminder that this is the fourth story in a larger series. I will admit that the writing in this story is significantly better than the first few, especially since they were some of my first stories in writing fanfiction (actually Power Struggle was).

Kaiya and Mayonaka are OCs from the first story Power Struggle. Other OCs are mentioned occasionally from this story. This was the first story in the series introducing a few girls with psychic abilities to the world of demons. The twin sisters are currently twenty-one years old in the series, which means it is three years since they started in their journey.

Kiense and his team which includes Marissa, Toshi, Suze, Akio, and Kiri, and also Mayonaka which caused problems and unnecessary drama. The characters' abilities will be mentioned soon enough as the mission plays out. As far as ages go, it has been roughly two years in the story since they first appeared. Kiense is a demon, so age with him is irrelevant. At this time, Marissa is 18 years old, where Toshi is 17 years old. The two of them are a sort of couple. Suze is currently 15 years old and the twins are 12.

Alexia was a character that was added after the Jiro conflict in the third story of the series, The Hunted. This is where the demon hunters come into play. The two characters usually mentioned from this series are Kagami, though she has been referred to simply as Kaiya's other, and Nariko, he cousin. Nariko was the cousin who had dated the faithful servant of Jiro, though neither had known about Kaiya being related to his master until Nariko misguidedly told him absolutely everything she overheard when Kaiya explained to her mother what had happened to Jiro.

The new OCs added in the present story in the series, Sibling Ties, would be the young girl Mizuki and her siblings. The changes from DBZ canon are Kaiya being Vegeta's sister (obviously), but also ages. I will not list all of the ages as I hadn't decided on much more than Vegeta being 27 instead of in his thirties based on the ages he and Kaiya were when they met and the gap in between. The Saiyan prince is still older than Goku and Bulma like in canon, but what their ages are are sort of irrelevant at this point and will be determined later if at all.

This guide should be a little bit more helpful, and to see more on these characters, the stories are somewhere on the profile XD I did this more for my benefit as well as an explanation since it has been four years since I started this series. It's hard to remember something written two years ago XD


	15. Chapter 14 Back on Track

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just OCs…this is repetitive -_-

* * *

Kaiya woke up the next morning, sunlight hitting her face. Blinking a few times, she sat up and rubbed the remainder of sleep from her eyes. She let out one last yawn before looking around her, remembering the task at hand. After a good night's rest, she was surprised that she felt so…light.

"Maybe I really did need to get some rest," she muttered to herself. "That damned emotional side of the brain." She thought about the day before and shook her head. Now that she had had a sufficient amount of sleep, her rational mind was back in control. "What the hell was I thinking?"

A knock on her door stopped her from thinking about her confrontation with Vegeta. She didn't respond, but Alexia entered anyway. Kaiya glared slightly at her before sarcastically saying, "Come in."

"Gladly," Alexia said calmly, though shocked by Kaiya's attitude. "Look, I wanted to talk to you about yesterday. Are you okay? I mean, you were upset about something with Vegeta. Everything okay with him?"

"It's fine, Lexi," Kaiya replied under her breath. "I just overreacted again, like all the other times I don't get enough sleep and stupid drama happens."

"Not sleeping?" Alexia asked, stunned. "Are you serious, Kaiya? Again?"

"I said again, did I not?" the girl replied with a sigh. She pushed her bangs from her face. "I've been having nightmares lately," she admitted, though she wasn't going to mention hers and Vegeta's telepathic connection. "It's been building up, so I was highly emotional, and I kind of got into an argument with Vegeta. He doesn't know I'm on a mission. I just told him I was hanging out with you and the girls."

"O…kay?" Alexia responded, not sure of what that had to do with anything. "Anyways, is that why you were zoned out last night?"

Kaiya paused and felt like all time stopped around her. "I did what now?" she asked hesitantly.

Alexia stared at her strangely. "You…you zoned out," Alexia told her. "When Kiense and I were in the room, talking about you. You snapped out of it and then sort of passed out. What happened? Did it have to do with your past memories?"

"N-n-no," Kaiya answered. "I, that no longer happens with my memories. I have full access to them. I shouldn't be zoning out."

"Are you sure?" Alexia pressed. "I mean, it was traumatic, so maybe you don't remember everything."

"No, I do," Kaiya nearly exclaimed. "I remember everything that happened before I went to class, and then waking up in Vegeta's room and everything with Frieza. Everything."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Alexia exclaimed. "You don't remember anything in between that time?"

"I was unconscious!" Kaiya shouted. "What am I supposed to remember?"

"Were you?"

Those two words made Kaiya feel slightly dizzy. Part of her was trying to think back to that period of time, and it did not feel good. Whatever it was, something was wrong with that small lapse in time. She needed to shrug it off now. "It's not important," she attempt to assure her cousin. Unfortunately, Alexia did not buy it.

"It happens every time we have a mission," she said in alarm as Kaiya was about to leave the room.

The young Saiyan/demon hybrid froze, her hand barely touching the doorknob. Hearing the word mission seemed to irritate her all of a sudden. She shook her head once more before turning to her cousin. "Really, Lexi, it's nothing," she lied before going in search of a Saiyan-sized breakfast.

* * *

Vegeta took back to intense training like a fish to water. He hadn't stopped his intense training, but he allowed more distractions. Not today, though, as he shot his ki blasts at the training bots Bulma had fixed. No, today the Saiyan prince was in a particularly bad mood. Being disturbed by his sister's thoughts was bothersome, and Vegeta found himself caring more than he should about the mysteries that seemed to surround the girl. But right now, he couldn't worry about it. He had goals to meets: become Super Saiyan, defeat Kakarot, kill Jiro, and possibly stay on the planet, but he hadn't worked that out yet. He'd see once the first three goals were met.

As he dodged his own blasts at heightened gravity, he smirked. He was getting faster, and the gravity was already set to more than 350G's. _Take that, Kakarot, _he taunted mentally. He wished the younger Saiyan was around to hear him gloating, but it was enough to know that he was starting to close in on his rival. He would become a Super Saiyan, or he would die trying.

He grimaced as thoughts of his sister entered his mind again. He scolded himself when he narrowly dodged another blast. Sending purple energy waves at the bots surrounding him, he knocked them to the ground and then ended the simulation. Just in time too as his stomach growled alerting him to hunger. He had already been in there since the night before. A small break was welcomed.

Entering the kitchen, he found Bulma flipping through yet another science magazine. She always seemed to glance at those when they came in the mail. The prince rolled his eyes and made his way to the refrigerator. Neither of the two present in the kitchen said anything as Vegeta started eating leftovers from the fridge.

"Break anymore bots?" Bulma questioned before flipping a page.

"Hmph," Vegeta grunted, taking a bite out of a cold chicken leg.

"I'll take that as a 'not yet,'" Bulma joked bitterly. "I'm heading out today, so if you break any of your toys, you'll have to wait."

Vegeta just walked back outside, not even giving her any kind of response. He wasn't going to fall for her guilt tactics. She was mad at him, he knew, for upsetting his own sister. Everyone was overreacting, and part of Vegeta felt that even Kaiya knew that herself. After this ridiculous mission assigned to her was over, he was getting her back into training whether she liked it or not, and he would continue with the same punishments as he was used to. She had to learn one way or another. She was raised Earthling, but she was still partly a Saiyan. She would learn the Saiyan way. She could do whatever she wanted with it after.

And he was thinking about it again, which angered him greatly. Well, no matter, another ten hours of unbroken training and it would be out of his system, he hoped.

* * *

"So, she's doing better I take it?" Yusuke carefully asked his fire demon friend.

"Yes, detective," Hiei replied in frustration. "She'll be fine, no thanks to her brother."

"Oh come on, Hiei," Kuronue retorted. "You know you weren't always so mellow around her. I seem to remember hearing stories of you trying to fight her on many occasions."

Hiei scowled at the bat demon. He had obviously said something wrong. Kurama flashed his friend a warning look. The fox knew more about the fights than Kuronue did and attacking Hiei about them was not a wise move.

"It was for communication purposes only," Hiei replied with a shrug. "They were mutual fights."

"Like the first fight between you two where she was covered in cuts and bruises?" Yusuke teased lightly. "Come on, Hiei, admit it. Maybe, on some level, Vegeta was trying to communicate with her too. I mean, she has been sort of closed off lately, right?"

Hiei shook his head. Of course the idiot would see it that way, because Kaiya was keeping matters where they should be, between her and Vegeta, and when Vegeta wasn't around, she vented only to him about her visions and her fears. She wasn't planning on going to anyone else in their group. They wouldn't understand, anyway.

"Whatever," came the fire demon's reply. He wished he could disagree with Yusuke, but he couldn't. He was more concerned about Kaiya's mental health and what she needed to hear than actually thinking on what exactly happened. He was a demon ruled by his own anger issues, and quickly settled on rage than any other emotion at times. His past victims would be able to vouch for that…if they were alive that is.

"We should start training," Kurama suggested. "We have a lot riding on the tournament this year."

"Don't remind me," Hiei muttered. He didn't need to be reminded of all the craziness Spirit World launched them into, especially when his girlfriend was thousands of miles away trying her hand at yet another seemingly impossible case.

* * *

Kaiya was ready to leave the rented house they were in as soon as she was done eating breakfast. She did not know why she felt irritable, nor did she understand why she was feeling the sensation of her blood pumping. It was almost like she wanted to hit something, really hard, and keep hitting it until the feeling went away. Well, she knew she was prone to mood swings when she was upset about something, so for now she planned to ignore it. Instead, they needed to plan out how they were going about this mission.

Koenma gave limited information on their target, but they already knew they were dealing with another demon hunter. They had no idea what kind of powers he, or whatever followers he amassed, had. It was like when they were sent after Alternate Kiense all over again, except they had known he was a fire demon.

"So where should we start?" Kiense questioned. "I mean, I'm new to this, really. What should we do?"

"When our friends had to go after your counterpart," Kaiya started calmly, "we did recon first. Looking around the different towns for answers. We should be able to do that again. It's only one town, and there are plenty of us."

"That's a good start," Shizuru said, "but what should we do about groupings?" She looked over to Yukina and Botan. "Not everyone here is a fighter."

Botan caught on to what she was trying to say. "Oh Shizuru, don't worry about us," Botan chimed. "I've been on plenty of missions with the boys. It's not that difficult."

"Until we get to the actual fighting," Alexia pointed out. "But like Kaiya said, we do recon first. It's the safest. Besides, she can sense energy now. If she senses any elevated energy levels or whatever they're called, then that will narrow our search down even more."

"I agree with all of this," Marissa said, "but I don't like the idea of Suze joining us."

"Aw, why?" the teenaged girl asked. After getting a stern look from her friends, she sighed. "I could always look after the place, if Toshi stays with me."

"Way to throw me under the bus," the boy grumbled. "Anyways, I have a suggestion first. You girls aren't seriously planning on wearing those clothes, are you?"

Kaiya and Alexia were taken aback. Both of them were wearing some type of uniform that looked like they had gotten out of a class at a dojo. Yukina and Botan had their kimonos. Shizuru had her street clothes. Then they looked over to Marissa and Mayonaka who were wearing more summertime style sundresses.

"What do you propose?" Alexia bit back.

Toshi smirked and looked to Kiense. "I say we take the girls shopping for more appropriate clothes for 'recon.'"

Kaiya's eyes narrowed at her sister's friend. "Why am I already dreading this?"

* * *

"This has got to be the funniest thing I've ever seen," Kuwabara chuckled.

"Say another word, and I kill you," Kaiya uncharacteristically grumbled.

This caused their large group to break out in laughs. Kaiya rolled as her eyes at her friends before looking at herself in the mirror. Now she knew how Vegeta felt when Bulma left him the pink shirt. She was being forced to model a pink dress that Mayonaka had picked out.

"Come on, sis," Mayonaka whined. "You look good in that dress."

"I am not leaving walking out of this story looking like this," Kaiya retorted. "It's bad enough I hate dresses, but it has to be _pink_?"

"No," Alexia said between giggles. She handed Kaiya a pure white dress. "Try this one, Kaiya. I think you'll like it better."

The irritated girl snatched the dress from her cousin while muttering stuff under her breath. Everyone had to bite their lip to refrain from laughing and setting the girl off more. The pink dress was thrown over the door before Kaiya came out in the white dress.

"Okay," Toshi teased, "we're a go. The pink dress was better, though."

"Let's just get out there," Kaiya growled. She really wanted to get this mission over with. She really hoped it wouldn't take too long to get information.

* * *

Hiei, Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuronue were having a battle royale in the back of Genkai's temple. They were fairly close to the forest's edge as they hit each other with their energy attacks, and weapons in Hiei's and Kurama's case. Yusuke and Kuronue focused on each other as Hiei and Kurama started their own battle. Kurama used his rose whip to attack Hiei, but the fire demon deflected it with his katana before shooting out flames from his left hands. Kurama narrowly dodged his counterattack, but he did manage to catch Hiei off-guard and trap him with the vines that crawled up the trunks of trees.

"Gah!" Hiei called out in shock. He shot a glare at Kurama. "Seriously?"

Kurama simply smiled at him. "It appears I am the winner here, Hiei."

Hiei refused to accept being beaten by a cheap trick. "No," he growled before smirking. It was time to reveal some of the things he learned from training with Vegeta the last few weeks.

Yusuke and Kuronue stopped fighting when the felt the ground beneath them shaking. Leaves began to fall from the trees, surrounding the fighters, but were incinerated as they touched the red aura appearing around Hiei. Kurama readied his whip again, deciding to stay on the defensive as the red light around Hiei started ripping the vines. The other two fighters watched in stunned silence as Hiei broke free, overcoming Kurama's demon energy with an energy they couldn't quite place. It was different from both demon and spirit energy, and even the Sacred Energy a former enemy had assaulted them with.

"W-what's going on?" Yusuke asked Kuronue. The half-demon hoped that a demon who had been around for centuries would know a little more about this, though after seeing the look on Kurama's face when he had been around even longer, he doubted any of them knew.

After Hiei broke free, he couldn't help but smirk at the confused expression the fox demon wore. It was always a challenge to stump him with his thousand years of experience. The fire demon took advantage of the confusion and flash-stepped behind his friend, using his red ki to gently knock the demon over. Kurama tilted his head slightly, and saw the blade of Hiei's katana.

"And I believe you spoke too soon, fox," he said arrogantly before removing his sword from Kurama's neck.

Kurama chuckled slightly. "I believe you are right, Hiei," he agreed. "But what was that. I've never seen energy like it. I couldn't even feel it."

Hiei waited for Kurama to get off of the ground before answering. "It's ki," Hiei told him. "Life energy. All living things have access to it, though not everyone can use it."

"So that's the energy Kaiya meant that we couldn't sense from that Frieza guy," Yusuke pondered as he walked over. "But how do you know how to use it."

"Training with Vegeta," Hiei explained. "Ki has more power than spirit _and _demon energy. They have more limits than life energy."

"That's sick!" Yusuke exclaimed in excitement. "Wait, so Vegeta taught you how to use it, right?" Hiei responded with a nod.

"Then I think we should try to learn to use it as well," Kuronue stated. "Anything to give us an edge in the tournament."

"Agreed," said Kurama as he dusted himself off.

"Um, excuse me…"

The four fighters froze and turned to see a teenaged girl carrying a younger girl and holding the hand of a little boy. It was easy to see that they were all related as they shared dark violet hair and amber eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" Hiei asked dangerously. He sensed out the eldest's energy and found that it felt familiar to him. The young boy looked like he wanted to attack, but the older woman squeezed his hand in warning. The little girl in her arms hid her face in the older woman's neck.

"Can you please not scare my siblings?" Mizuki said. She swallowed when Hiei's glare darkened and the other three did not look any more welcoming. It made her wonder why she was doing this. The demon hunter had been planning on waiting before coming here, but in light of recent conversations she had no choice. She knew, if she didn't get her and her siblings out of her house, that they'd be dead sooner rather than later. Jiro was coming after her, and she knew she needed to keep them safe.

"My name is Mizuki," she told them. "These are my younger siblings, Kala and Tristen. I…I was a demon hunter, but I can't do it anymore. I…we need your help."

"And why should we help you?" Yusuke questioned.

"Because I have information that could save your lives," Mizuki offered. She took a deep breath and got ready to make her next move. "Jiro is planning on attacking during the Demon World Tournament. The Forlorn Hope is a backup."

When she saw four pairs of wide eyes looking at each other in question, and then the red-haired demon nod, she felt a wave of relief. Kurama walked over to her and said, "We will let you stay, but don't think for an instant that that means we trust you. As for your siblings, no matter what, we'll make sure they're safe."

"Thank you," Mizuki whispered. _Because other than me, they have no one else._

"We better let Genkai know about the new arrivals," Kuronue suggested. "In the meantime, we better warn the others."

"Right," Yusuke spoke up. "I don't trust him with that mirror, especially after he hurt-" After receiving a glare from Hiei daring him to continue, he laughed nervously and said, "I mean after what he's done in the past."

"It's no secret," Mizuki said with a frown, "what he did to his…is daughter. I didn't know before joining. I never knew what kind of freaky club I was joining until I heard him and Jake bragging about all the stuff they pulled on your group."

"If you didn't join to follow their methods, why did you?" Kurama interrogated.

"Not all demons are bad," she said setting Kala down, "but there are some that are, like the ones that attacked us when we were younger. I joined to protect my family, not to destroy another group of protectors from the evil demons."

"Even if we were to believe your story," Hiei started, "you are still the enemy. You were one of the ones that brought him back with the Dragon Balls."

"W-WHAT?" Yusuke exclaimed. "Hiei, how do you know that?"

Hiei didn't have to answer because Mizuki was willing to confess. "Yes, but in my defense, it was all Jake's idea. He knew about the Dragon Ball legend. He didn't even know anyone else was familiar with it. I didn't know either until he told me. Then Jiro announced that he always knew and purposefully left it behind so that one of the demon hunters would find it."

"If he knew, why didn't he go after them before?" Kurama wondered out loud. "It would have been easy for him, I would assume."

Mizuki shrugged. "He said someone else was after them all the time and he didn't want to get involved."

"Hn, coward," Hiei scoffed, though he sounded amused. "I know why he wouldn't go after them."

"Planning on sharing?" Yusuke asked in irritation.

"No," Hiei replied. "I'll be in my tree."

"Wah?" Yusuke got out before Hiei raced past them and the rustling of trees was heard. "Damn it, just when we need him to talk. Where's Kaiya when you need her?"

Kuronue and Kurama chuckled, ignoring the confused stairs of the small family in front of them.

"Mimi," Tristen spoke up, "things just got really weird."

"You have no idea, little bro, no idea."


	16. Chapter 15 Changed Plans

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just my OCs

* * *

He knew he was trapped in another nightmare; though whether it came from his own mind or Kaiya's, Vegeta had no idea. He was surrounded by many colors, a backdrop for whatever this place was. There was no way this came from his mind.

Vegeta decided to investigate, assuming he's come across a stray thought or scene from his sister's mind. If he was trapped there for the night, he might as well. He continued to walk around the colorful prison. No one was around. That couldn't be right. He continued to hear the sounds of battle cries, grunts, and screams. Someone had to be around somewhere.

He turned a corner between rainbow rocks, his hand touching the stone surface as he rounded the pillar-shaped stone. What he saw surprised him. Whatever this place was wasn't from Kaiya's mind. It was from his.

There he was, high in the sky, fighting with some misshapen shadow. The red, glowing eyes reminded him of Frieza. Vegeta scoffed at his own subconscious. The tyrant was dead. This dream was irrelevant to the real world. Upon that realization, he was about to leave the battle site until he heard the shadow's voice.

"_You betrayed me, Vegeta," _the voice of his dead comrade, Nappa, spat.

Vegeta stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide. He had put that day behind him, not caring that he had ended the life of the former Saiyan general. There was no way he was giving this day a second thought. It definitely had to be coming from Kaiya. Even hearing the shadow's voice screaming insults at him, Vegeta shrugged it off and continued to walk around. He felt no guilt or remorse having killed Nappa for his weakness and foolishness. The big oaf had it coming.

As he continued to travel the mountainous plains, Vegeta heard muffled voices, nothing coming through to him as distinguished speech. Bright lights started randomly flashing, causing the prince to see spots before he was transported elsewhere, by some random lake in the middle of nowhere. _Yes, definitely Kaiya's thoughts._

And he was right. As soon as he saw a younger version of Kaiya, he quirked an eyebrow. Whatever was going on, he wasn't sure what killing Nappa had to do with it. Maybe it was just a fleeting thought Kaiya refused to ask him about. The prince had assumed the girl had been curious.

Vegeta shook his head. When were these dreams and connections going to make sense? Out of nowhere, the young version of Kaiya plopped down onto the ground, lying back on the fresh grass. It was a peaceful setting, and then it changed once more to a darkened room. Kaiya sat up then, alarmed by the change in scenery.

"_Everything is your fault," _a dark voice said. _"It is all your fault."_

"_Huh?" _the younger girl questioned, wrapping her arms around herself. _"W-who's there?"_

The room became pitch-black, and even Vegeta could not see anything play out. It reminded him of that chamber Frieza had locked him in as punishment. This was putting Vegeta slightly on edge, but then he remembered it was Kaiya's nightmare, and not his own. Somehow this was all factoring in with her own fears. Sounds of thunder boomed around him as streaks of lightning occasionally lit up the darkened space.

"_You are nothing but a problem," _the voice came in clearer, though not enough to determine who it was. _"You are a traitor, a waste of space. The problems they had, their deaths, all because of you."_

"_No," _the little girl whimpered. _"No, it's not true."_

"_All you ever were was collateral damage that somehow managed to hang on," _the voice growled, _"even after your death."_

"_I…I wasn't supposed to die," _Kaiya voiced. _"Me coming back was nature's way of saying it wasn't my time yet."_

"_You were never meant to exist," the voice said, and now Vegeta could tell who it was. "Neither you nor your sister. I will correct my mistakes."_

Vegeta, already furious, was clenching his fists and getting into a fighting stance. He couldn't see anything, but he knew if Jiro showed up, even in this dream world, he would strangle the life from him. Anything was better than listening to his cowardly attacks.

More crashes of lightning surrounded the two Saiyans, and he heard the young version of Kaiya scream. Jiro's sinister laughs could be heard. Even the sound of his laugh was annoying to Vegeta. Seriously, where was this dream Jiro? He wanted to bash his face in, maybe torture him a little bit before killing him the same way Frieza had him. Vegeta growled at his thoughts. He hated that he was killed by a mere blast and not a warrior's death.

"_This lightning," _Jiro said bringing Vegeta's attention back to him, _"has served me well. It ended you, it could harm your sister with her water powers, and it will be what I use to eliminate what's left of that monkey race. I'll do that before or after I eliminate those demon friends of yours."_

"_No!" _Kaiya screamed, standing up and ready to fight, her age increasing a bit in this dream world. _"I won't let you. This conflict ends with you and me. Leave them out of this."_

"_Oh, I would, daughter, but there are more important things to worry about. I won't tolerate you rebelling against me anymore!" _A large gust of wind pushed Kaiya back, and startled Vegeta though he was able to stand his ground. _"Though who know? Maybe I won't even be the one to end you. Thanks to you, that idiotic prince lost his sanity in a room just like this. He killed one of his own. Maybe he'll kill you too."_

"That is the biggest load of bullshit I've heard in my entire life," Vegeta snapped, calling attention to himself for the first time in this dream world.

"_Well, well, well," _Jiro's sickeningly sweet voice chimed, _"look who managed to intercept my message. Again I state you are very idiotic. You shouldn't be here."_

Vegeta scoffed and looked over to Kaiya, meeting her fearful eyes. She looked to be the right age now, but she still had the look of sheer panic that the scared little girl shared moments ago. Jiro's laughs echoed around them again before Vegeta remembered the crap that had caused him to reveal himself.

"You're the idiot if you honestly think you can convince her that I would kill her," Vegeta stated, crossing his arms. "You, on the other hand…you are a different story all together."

Jiro chuckled and responded with, _"Now, now…this is only a game, Saiyan. If you attack me here, it won't do anything to me in the real world. Kaiya could tell you a lot more about that, can't you daughter?"_

"_Stop calling me that," _Kaiya ordered, though her voice was soft and meek. Where was the spitfire she was becoming before this whole case thing had started, Vegeta wondered. _"And Vegeta's right. I know he won't kill me." _She looked over to Vegeta and flashed him a small smile. Vegeta returned her smile with a smirk. Good, it seemed like she was over what happened. Humans and their stupid emotions…she was just oversensitive that day. Kaiya's smile then turned into a frown and she turned back to Jiro. _"Now tell me what you meant when you said you'd be going after my friends."_

Jiro grinned in amusement. His smug face irritated the Saiyan prince. Someone so weak and cowardly should be that cocky. So what if he had his little lightning show? That wouldn't be enough to kill any of the living Saiyans. They had been hit with much worse.

"_All in good time, Kaiya," _he returned. _"All in good time. Besides, you should know a good villain never reveals his plans before he even begins to implement them. The only thing I'll say is 'you days are numbered.' Oh, and good luck on the mission. It'll be interesting to see what you can do."_

All of a sudden, Vegeta shot out of bed, awake. He had been ready to pounce on the illusion of Jiro in that instant, but it seemed the dream was over. The prince heard a scoff as if someone was mocking his thought and turned to see Hiei sitting in his opened window.

"If you thought that was a dream, you really are an idiot," Hiei said in amusement.

Vegeta glared at the fire demon's insult. He didn't grace him with a response, though. There was no need to say anything about the dream message or whatever it was. "What are you doing here?" Vegeta questioned. "I thought you couldn't stand to be here."

It was Hiei's turn to glare before he "hn'ed" and looked back out the window. "I will not apologize," he informed Vegeta. "Kaiya is my concern, not you. I did not like that she was upset or that you were the reason. If you'd have seen ALL the things were went through, you would know why I was infuriated; however, it was brought to my attention by the idiots I actually call my friends that I used to be just as brutal. She's obviously over it now, too. It's time to move on."

"Agreed," Vegeta muttered. "You haven't answered my question."

Hiei sighed in frustration. "I'll run, you fly. We need to get to Genkai's and then everything, including that damned message will be explained."

Vegeta nodded as Hiei disappeared from his window. Taking off to the skies and following the blur that was Hiei, Vegeta rolled his eyes and passed him, remembering exactly how to get to the temple in the mountains.

* * *

Kaiya woke up with a huge migraine having her mind invaded like she had. Jiro chose now to contact her again, and it irritated her to no end that he was trying to turn her against Vegeta. He was a first class moron if he thought he could use her to take down her brother. Firstly, she wouldn't be able to touch him, and secondly, she wouldn't fight him even if her life depended on it.

And not only that, but he threatened everyone: all of her friends, her sister, anyone who had Saiyan blood. He also used her memories of Vegeta's memories against her, twisting them in his own way. Did he not expect her to get angry and defiant? It was like day one of her mission all over again, acting like a scared little girl at first before allowing her Saiyan side to take over, though in the dream she truly felt like a scared little girl until he started flinging threats.

Speaking of the mission, she was tired of it already. Earlier that day, her and the girls played the fool and pretended to flirt with a few guys they had sensed had heightened spirit energy. Of course the guys sensed their spirit energy too and tried to lead them to their headquarters. Well, now those guys were unconscious somewhere and, later that day, the group would investigate the first hideout of this demon hunting sect.

Well, she was awake now, so her day was starting way earlier than the rest of the group. She woke up in the middle of a storm too, which meant two things: one, she had a few hours to calm her jitters before going out in the storm (the storm was not helping her jitters in the slightest), and two, Mayonaka would not be able to leave the house. With her water powers, she was like a giant lightning rod. Kaiya knew Jiro said something similar about Saiyans, but she wasn't worried about that. She had already experienced the worst of it before.

The one good thing that came out of the message was that somehow Vegeta had been included. She hadn't spoken to him since she abruptly left, or actually since after him hitting her. She didn't know what he had been like with her leaving. She still hadn't told him about the mission at all. Anyways, it was nice knowing that he wouldn't hurt her like Jiro was continuously trying to imply. Kaiya had already known, but with her emotions in a whirlwind, she had obviously needed to reminder. How she hated when her emotional mind outshone her rational one.

Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't been eating like she should. Well, seeing as she was up early, she decided to make the best use out of her time. She was going to eat, and then she was going to go outside in the storm and train for a little bit. With Jiro out there, and with him threatening her friends and family, she needed to be at the top of her game. She smiled slightly at the thought. Now she understood what Vegeta was trying to point out. Funny how her perspective would always change when it was someone else's life at risk.

* * *

"If she is the enemy, then why is she still alive?" Vegeta asked when Mizuki was introduced.

The young girl flashed worried eyes over to her sleeping siblings and then over to Kurama who let out a tired sighs. "We had similar sentiments at first, but she is not a threat," Kurama answered. "Besides, she asked for protection for her siblings. We wouldn't kill her in front of them."

Vegeta chuckled bitterly. "For murderous demons, you're too soft. It's a miracle you made it through that past tournament."

Hiei scoffed at the insult. "You have no idea," he agreed. Where he somewhat understood his friends' positions having lived in this world for so long now, he still kept his ruthlessness in battle. That was one thing they could not afford to have change.

"Look, I understand you may have problems with me, but-"

"Did I address you, girl?" Vegeta snapped causing Mizuki to shut her mouth. He looked over to the demon group and sneered. "Now, one of you is going to tell me why I was dragged here in the middle of the night and you better pray it's a good reason."

"Wow," Yusuke said in wonder. "It's always fun seeing similarities between you and Kaiya. She hates being woken up in the middle of the night."

"I don't have time for this," Vegeta grumbled. _Nor the patience_, he added in his mind. He was ready to blast someone if no one started talking. He heard Hiei chuckle behind him, and was growing irritated with his mocking nature.

Kurama stood up from the table where he was sitting and motioned to Mizuki. "She had information on Jiro that is proving to be true," Kurama explained. "Not only is he planning to attack with his underlings at the Demon World Tournament, but he's planning to use something stolen from Spirit World if he fails to end all of us."

"Tch, please," Vegeta sneered. "I'm not afraid of something out of that place. They're nothing but morons. I'm sure their technology is menial as well."

"It's not technology though," Yusuke corrected. "We're dealing with a magical mirror thing that grants wishes, and unlike those ball things that were used to bring him back, it has no limit."

"Been there, done that," Vegeta grunted. "There's always a catch with those things anyway, isn't there?"

"Look Mr. Know-It-All," Kuronue belittled, "of course there's a catch, but Jiro doesn't have to pay it. He plans on using unsuspecting underlings to do it. The cost per wish is one life and the wish has to be made at the full moon."

"Where this is all very interesting," Vegeta said blandly, "it has nothing to do with me. If Jiro tries anything, I'll kill him without a second thought. When that coward finally shows his face, that is if I don't find him first, I will make him pay for everything. This little coup he's planning against your world won't stick."

"Are you willing to bet Kaiya's life on that?" Kurama asked darkly. Vegeta just remained cool and collected, staring stoically back at the fox demon's hardened eyes. A grunt from the prince mandated that Kurama continue with his point. "Kaiya is at a disadvantage. Jiro has to know where she is, and where she'll defend herself, she won't fight him."

"And she'll definitely someone," Hiei spoke up. Vegeta glanced at the fire demon over his shoulder and saw him staring at the wall, an unreadable expression on his face. "He's going to go after her."

"What makes you say that, Hiei?" Yusuke asked. He looked over to Mizuki who looked just as confused. "Hey, what's up, lady?"

"He said he wasn't going after her," Mizuki revealed. "He said he wanted her to know all of you got killed and then he'd tie up loose ends. God, I hate the way he talks about her."

Hiei managed to control himself not to clench a flame into his fist before he explained what happened that night. "He contacted Kaiya," Hiei explained, "through telepathy."

"Well, at least we know where she got that power from," Yusuke muttered. "What did he say to her?"

"He knows about the mission, and he is going to be watching her," Hiei explained, side-stepping everything that happened with Vegeta. "The only way he can do that is to actually go there and watch up close. She will be dealing with him sooner rather than later, at least sensing him."

"Oh great," Kuronue huffed. "And even if she tried to defend herself, or the others tried to defend her, she'd get in trouble with Koenma. This is a joke."

"Kuronue and I are going to go Demon World and alert the others about Jiro's plan," Kurama started. "That means you and Hiei need to stay here and continue training as well as keeping an eye on Mizuki."

"Hn," Hiei responded darkly. "Sure that is a good idea, fox?"

"Eh, we'll be fine," Yusuke countered, flashing an assuring smile over to the fearful girl. "He's all talk, really." Hiei glared at Yusuke, mentally communicating a slew of death threats and curses.

"But that just leaves one thing we need to decide," Kurama stated, looking at Vegeta once more. "If Jiro is going after her, maybe you should join them on the mission."

Vegeta looked at Kurama like he was crazy. Suggesting he join her was suggesting that she couldn't handle herself. This was her fight, not his, and he wasn't going to get involved. Jiro wasn't going after her. He was just watching and waiting to see how she would handle herself. Honestly, Vegeta was also curious. He would learn later, after the mission. If this was what she was trained to do, she could do it.

He didn't give an answer; he didn't need to. Kurama could already tell what the Saiyan prince's answer was by the expression on his face. The fox demon looked over to Hiei who also didn't seem concerned. Hiei could sense the demon's unspoken question.

"I said he'd be following her and she would know," Hiei reiterated. "I didn't say he'd harm her, not yet anyway. I'll keep tabs on both of them, but she's not in any immediate danger. She can handle it."

"Where was the concern from earlier?" Kuronue pressed. "Weren't you worried about that incident that set her off?"

"She's fine now," Hiei returned, glancing over to Vegeta. "She knows all is fine. She's rational again."

"Women," Yusuke joked before looking over to Mizuki. "No offense."

"Offense taken," the girl replied. Vegeta looked over to her again and she tensed. "Y-yes?"

"What was in it for you?" Vegeta interrogated. "What led you to rebel and turn to the enemy?"

"Oh, well," Mizuki said looking over at her siblings. "I was the one he wanted to use to make the wish. He never trusted me. Besides, if I did that, I'd have gone against my beliefs and left my siblings alone without care. Neither left me wanting to stay. It was better to change sides. I never wanted that life anyways. If anything, I just needed to train my own abilities to protect them."

Vegeta gave a curt nod, somewhat understanding the girl's predicament as it had been similar to his own rebellion against Frieza. Still, it no longer concerned him. It was back to training for him. He would become a Super Saiyan, and then all this worrying and planning would have been for nothing. He was thankful for waking up now. He would return to training. He still had to break the barrier to the Super Saiyan transformation.

* * *

"So, she went to them, did she?" Jiro questioned Jake, a few demon hunters surrounding the two of them.

"Unfortunately," the angry boy muttered. "What is it about these demons? This is the second girlfriend they've turned against me."

Jiro chuckled at the boys words and waved a hand at his other minions to dismiss them. Having heard of the betrayal, he was ready to take care of loose ends. It worked out how he wanted, though. Jake was too valuable to lose.

"I am no stranger to betrayal," Jiro responded after the two were alone. "It's troublesome when someone you care about ends up stabbing you in the back."

"Your daughter?" Jake questioned. He scoffed slightly and rolled his eyes. "She's frustrating. I tortured her for information before on those demons and she refused to give any. Too bad the torture didn't kill her. She must be made out of steel or something."

Jiro frowned slightly, turning away from his faithful servant. This was another reminder of the deal he had made twenty years prior, and a reminder that he was dealing with more than demons. He hadn't expected to deal with any Saiyans after making the agreement with Frieza. Now, there were three of them that he knew of, and who knew how many more.

The scheming human hadn't expected Frieza to experiment with his daughter the way he had. He figured he'd use her as a warrior and that she'd be killed in battle, never leading to his future visions of his downfall. He had known about the Saiyans from his visions as well, and he knew they couldn't be free to live. It was the reason he suggested the planet's destruction. He hadn't had enough foresight to predict that Frieza would keep a few as slaves to do his purging business. If he wasn't careful, his vision would come to pass. He would die again, and it would be the fault of his daughter.

"That girl is a menace," Jiro growled. "She should have stayed dead. Why couldn't she have stayed a weakling?"

Jake shrugged. He wished he knew the answer to that. Had the girl been weaker, she wouldn't have restored with her demon blood. Unfortunately, he didn't think he'd ever know the answer. How was the boy to know that the man who posed the question also knew the answer? All he did know was that the demons needed to be taken down as well as his traitor of a girlfriend. _She better watch her back, _he said to himself. _If I see her, she's dead._


End file.
